OCULAR BURN DUE TO LATEX OF MANCHINEEL TREE

Objective of the study The objective of this study is to enter on an i nventory and to appreciate the severity of the ocular burn caused by t he latex of manchineel tree and to propose a therapeutic attitude. Mat erial and method We report on the results of a prospective study inclu ded II patients examined in the Department of Ophthalmology (Centre Ho spitalier Universitaire de Fort-de-France) between November 1992 and N ovember 1993. All of them presented with ocular burn due to a contact with the latex of the manchineel tree. Results The study included II p atients, 8 adults and 3 children, the mean age was 22.9 years (range 4 -40). All of them had hyperhemia and conjunctival erosions of various intensity. Ten patients had corneal lesions:superficial punctate kerat itis in 5 cases and corneal ulcers in 5 cases. Three cases of corneal ulcerations were associated with an inflammatory reaction of the anter ior segment. Both eyes were affected in 4 cases (37 %), and only the r ight one in the other cases (63 %). Seven patients had cutaneous lesio ns (63 %), of whom 4 periocular bums of superficial second degree. Ful l recovery was obtained within 15 days for all the patients. Conclusio n Ocular lavage is the first treatment, as for all chemical burns. Loc al antibiotherapy is used systematically to prevent superinfection. Wi th a proper treatment, a complete recovery with MO sequelae is obtaine d.