Chalcosis Oculi-A Case Report

Chalcosis oculi is an uncommon disease entity. Clinical manifestations of the disease range from asymptomatic quiet eye to severe endophthalmitis, depending on the location, the size and the purity of the metal. We reported a case of chalcosis oculi with a piece of pure copper wire embedded in the 6-o'clock position of anterior chamber angle for five years. This 42-year-old woman had been accidentally scratched in her right eye by a fine copper wire during working in March 1996. She underwent extracapsular cataract extraction and posterior chamber intra-ocular lens implantation with scleral fixation in March 1997. In January 2001, a piece of copper wire measured 4 mm in length was removed from the inferior chamber angle of her right eye. The case was complicated with glaucoma and abnormalities of the electroretinogram.