Live parasitic worm found in eyeball

The unusual find occurred after a Mexican teenager, who lived in a rural town, went to the hospital complaining of serious eye pain. His vision had also progressively decreased over the preceding three weeks, to the point where he could only see movent out of that eye.An intraocular pressure test revealed it was elevated at 30mm Hg, while the slit lamp examination revealed corneal oeda, blood in the anterior chamber, multiple iris perforations, and a parasitic flatworm.{{quote-A:R-W:450-Q:Usually, these parasites enter the body either through food or when the person swims in worm-egg tainted waters.}}Before its roval, the flatworm – a tratode – was seen moving freely through the iris perforations from the anterior chamber to the posterior chamber of the eye. However, despite it appearing more than comfortable in its surroundings, the doctors could not pinpoint how it originally found its way into the eyeball.Usually, these parasites enter the body either through food or when the person swims in worm-egg tainted waters, however, the teen reported no relevant food exposures, nor a history of swimming in lakes, or other water exposure.In order to rid the patient of the 3mm parasite, doctors from Mexico City’s Institute of Ophthalmology had to lift away the lens and rove the vitreous, before slicing the worm into multiple pieces so it was small enough to be roved. During the procedure, doctors found extensive damage to both the retina and the iris.A follow up appointment six months later showed no signs of further infection, however, the patient had no improvent in visual acuity in the right eye.