DR. A. BALRAJ

Abstract

Six patients presented with a history of ocular exposure to custard seed powder were included in the case series & had used the custard seed powder as a treatment for the management of hair lice and hair loss. Most of the patients in our case series were female(83%). All patients presented with severe pain, redness, watering, and photophobia within 2-4 h(83%) and after 24 hour in one case. Slit lamp examination revealed coarse punctate epithelial lesion(75%) and epithelial defect(25%) in one case. All patients were prescribed topical moxifloxacin 0.5%, homatropine 2%, lubricant CMC 0.5% and HPMC 2 % gel. Surprisingly, all responded well to treatment and ocular signs resolved completely in 7 days. All patients regained best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20 after the condition completely resolved in 7 days. More public awareness of this prevailing traditional practice about the harmful effects of the custard apple seeds should be created to avoid them.