Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2020 Oct;68(10):2279-2281.
doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_107_20.

Rotating wire brush ocular trauma in a fighter pilot

Karmiris I Efthymios  1 , Manousakis E Evangelos  2 , Ntravalias G Thomas  1 , Kasmas M Konstantinos  1 , Giannakis P Ioannis  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Rotating wire brush ocular trauma in a fighter pilot

Karmiris I Efthymios et al. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Penetrating ocular injuries from rotating wire brush is a previously underreported still preventable risk of ocular trauma which poses serious threats for vision. We describe a case of an injury caused by rotational wire brush to a pilot of a high-performance fighter plane, with an excellent visual outcome, and a fully restored vision and functionality status. Despite the unpropitious expected visual outcome due to the severity of the trauma, proper management can restore the vision. This is the first case, reporting this type of injury, with a fully restored vision to maintain flying status in a high performance and demanding military environment.

Keywords: Ocular trauma; penetrating eye injury; rotating wire brush injury.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Patient on admission with protruding wire edge about 1 mm from the cornea (red arrow), (b) One week after pars plana vitrectomy and cataract extraction
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Computed Tomographic (CT) scan (3D reconstruction) with the IOFB (red arrow), (b) IOFB trajectory CT scan. (c) Rotating wire brush bristle fragment
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) The second B-scan three days after admission, (b) three days after IOFB removal a traumatic cataract was fully developed
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hassett P, Cleary PE. Serious eye injuries caused by rotating wire brushes. Br J Ophthalmol. 1994;78:491. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Purtskhvanidze K, Rüfer F, Klettner A, Borzikowsky C, Roider J. Ocular trauma score as prognostic value in traumatic ocular injuries due to rotating wire brushes. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2017;255:1037–42. - PubMed
    1. Kuhn F, Morris R, Witherspoon CD, Mester V. The Birmingham eye trauma terminology system (BETT) J Fr Ophtalmol. 2004;27:206–10. - PubMed
    1. Kuhn F, Maisiak R, Mann L, Mester V, Morris R, Witherspoon CD. The ocular trauma score (OTS) Ophthalmol Clin North Am. 2002;15:163–5. - PubMed
    1. Kuhn F, Pieramici DJ. Intraocular foreign bodies. In: Ferenc K, Pieramici D, editors. Ocular Trauma: Principles and Practice. 1st ed. New York: Thieme; 2002. pp. 235–63.

Publication types