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Man With Disappearing Subconjunctival Foreign Body

Educational Objective
Based on this clinical scenario and the accompanying image, understand how to arrive at a correct diagnosis.
1 Credit CME

A 33-year-old man with no prior ocular problems presented to the emergency department in central Florida with a chief complaint of a “pulling and popping” sensation in his left eye that had occurred the previous night. Ophthalmology was consulted to evaluate for a conjunctival foreign body of the left eye. At the time of the examination, his symptoms had resolved; however, he had a photograph from a cellular phone taken during the episode (Figure 1). The photograph shows an irregular, serpiginous extension from beneath the plica semilunaris toward the corneal limbus with localized conjunctival hyperemia. He reported a similar sensation of movement in his left eye that occurred for 1 night about 5 years ago for which he visited an urgent care center where he was diagnosed with allergic conjunctivitis. He also reported recent swelling of the left side of his face with associated numbness and occasional swelling of his left hand, all of which resolved after a few days. He had immigrated from Nigeria 10 years prior, had not returned since, and was working as a traveling nurse. A slitlamp examination did not reveal any conjunctival hyperemia, foreign bodies, or other abnormalities like those shown in the photograph. His uncorrected visual acuity was 20/20, extraocular movements were full and without pain or abnormal sensation, and intraocular pressure was normal. His dilated fundus examination was unremarkable. A comprehensive blood cell count revealed mild elevation in the relative (but not absolute) eosinophil count (6.9% reference; 6.0% of white blood cells).

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A 33-year-old man with no prior ocular problems presented to the emergency department in central Florida with a chief complaint of a “pulling and popping” sensation in his left eye that had occurred the previous night. Ophthalmology was consulted to evaluate for a conjunctival foreign body of the left eye. At the time of the examination, his symptoms had resolved; however, he had a photograph from a cellular phone taken during the episode (Figure 1). The photograph shows an irregular, serpiginous extension from beneath the plica semilunaris toward the corneal limbus with localized conjunctival hyperemia. He reported a similar sensation of movement in his left eye that occurred for 1 night about 5 years ago for which he visited an urgent care center where he was diagnosed with allergic conjunctivitis. He also reported recent swelling of the left side of his face with associated numbness and occasional swelling of his left hand, all of which resolved after a few days. He had immigrated from Nigeria 10 years prior, had not returned since, and was working as a traveling nurse. A slitlamp examination did not reveal any conjunctival hyperemia, foreign bodies, or other abnormalities like those shown in the photograph. His uncorrected visual acuity was 20/20, extraocular movements were full and without pain or abnormal sensation, and intraocular pressure was normal. His dilated fundus examination was unremarkable. A comprehensive blood cell count revealed mild elevation in the relative (but not absolute) eosinophil count (6.9% reference; 6.0% of white blood cells).

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: Thomas A. Weppelmann, MD, PhD, MPH, Department of Ophthalmology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Health Faculty Office Building, 13220 USF Laurel Dr, Tampa, FL 33612 (taweppelmann@usf.edu).

Published Online: September 7, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.4043

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Additional Contributions: We thank the patient for granting permission to publish this information.

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AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

  • 1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
  • 1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
  • 1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
  • 1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
  • 1.00 credit toward the CME [and Self-Assessment requirements] of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.

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