Another Risk From Cigarette Smoking: Corneal Burn

Abstract

A 21-year-old male presented with corneal injury in his left eye after one of his friends had moved his arm backwards and accidentally hit his eye with the lit end of a cigarette. Slit lamp examination revealed epithelial defect and significant stromal edema at the superior temporal quadrant of the cornea. Cigarette ashes were noted in his lashes and inferior conjunctival fornix at the initial examination in the emergency service. 6 weeks after the injury, slit lamp examination revealed stromal thinning and haze in the temporal part of the cornea. His best spectacle-corrected distance visual acuity was 20/25 with a refractive error of -6.75x135 diopters in the left eye. Our case demonstrates that ocular thermal injury due to cigarette smoking can cause serious damage to the ocular tissues. (Turk J Oph thal mol 2012; 42: 484-5)

Keywords

• Cigarette
• cornea
• thermal injury