| A Case of Toxic Keratoconjunctivitis by Self-application of Human Breast Milk. |
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Jong Young Lee, Jung Yeol Choi, Jin Ho Jeong |
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Department of Ophthalmology, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea. amario@naver.com |
| 모유의 자가 점안 후 발생한 독성 각결막염 1예 |
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이종영⋅최정열⋅정진호 |
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제주대학교 의과대학 안과학교실 |
Correspondence:
Jin Ho Jeong,
Email: amario@naver.com
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Received: 14 June 2018 • Revised: 18 July 2018 • Accepted: 18 January 2019 |
| Abstract |
PURPOSE
We report a case of toxic keratoconjunctivitis resulting from the self-application of human breast milk as a traditional folk remedy for allergic conjunctivitis. CASE SUMMARY: An 82-year-old woman presented with pain and conjunctival hyperemia in the right eye that had been worsening for three days. Two months previously, she was treated with antiallergic eye drops for allergic conjunctivitis at another eye clinic. However, the symptoms did not improve. She applied her daughter-in-law's breast milk into her right eye as a folk remedy for three days. The pain and conjunctival hyperemia worsened. At the initial visit, her corrected visual acuity was 0.3 in the right eye. Slit lamp examination demonstrated conjunctival hyperemia, punctate epithelial erosion at the central cornea, corneal keratic precipitates and white-colored deposits in the peripheral cornea combined with irregularly shaped small nodules. There was no anterior chamber inflammation. There was no medical history of rheumatoid arthritis or tuberculosis. Blood tests for serum and other infectious and inflammatory levels for infection and inflammatory markers were performed followed by application of topical steroids and antibiotics with artificial tears. After 3 weeks of treatment, conjunctival hyperemia and corneal deposits had almost resolved and best-corrected visual acuity improved to 1.0. CONCLUSIONS: The self-application of human breast milk may cause toxic keratoconjunctivitis. Therefore, efforts should be made, actively, to inform and educate the elderly in rural areas not to use human breast milk as a folk remedy. |
| Key Words:
Human breast milk;Toxic keratoconjunctivitis;Traditional eye medicine |
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