A 60-year-old woman was picking chestnuts when three thorns pierced her left eye and she developed glaucoma

The autumn wind blows, and the chestnuts smell good. Now is the season for chestnuts to ripen. Chestnuts taste delicious, but when they are picked, the shells are covered with thorns. If they fall from the tree, they may hit the pickers. If they hit the eyes, the consequences will be disastrous. This year, 66-year-old Granny Chen (a pseudonym) was injured in her left eye by a chestnut. Not only were there three "thorns in the eye" on her eyeball, but she also developed glaucoma. It can be said that "disaster comes from the sky."

Granny Chen lives in Luotian County, Hubei Province. As the "Hometown of Chinese Chestnuts", almost every household here has a chestnut tree. Every October, chestnut trees all over the mountains are full of heavy fruits, and Granny Chen's home is no exception. During the National Day holiday, Granny Chen, holding a long pole and a bamboo basket, shuttled through the forest, skillfully knocking ripe chestnut balls. Unexpectedly, she "stumbled" and her left eye was hit by a fallen fruit from the sky. Afterwards, Granny Chen felt unbearable swelling and pain in her left eye. For several days, Granny Chen's left eye vision deteriorated severely, so her family quickly took her to the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University for treatment.

When she arrived at the hospital, Zhang Ying, deputy chief physician of the hospital's glaucoma specialist, found that compared with the 0.8 vision of the right eye, the vision of Granny Chen's left eye was only 0.2, the anterior chamber of the left eye was shallow, the angle of the chamber was closed, the lens was subluxated, and the upper and lower eyelids of the left eye were slightly red and swollen, the conjunctiva was congested, and there were 3 burr-like foreign bodies in the corneal margin and sclera. After removing and giving local hypotensive drugs, it was found that the intraocular pressure of her left eye was still as high as 33mmHg, which exceeded the normal intraocular pressure range (10mmHg-21mmHg). Deputy chief physician Zhang Ying judged that Granny Chen was suffering from secondary angle-closure glaucoma in the left eye induced by traumatic lens dislocation.

Why can a small chestnut cause such serious damage to the eyes? Deputy Chief Physician Zhang Ying introduced that the shell of chestnut fruit is relatively hard. It can cause blunt trauma when it falls from the air and hits the eyes. The suspensory ligament of the lens is easily broken, resulting in lens dislocation. In addition, the patient's eyes already have shallow anterior chambers and narrow angles. The aqueous humor does not flow smoothly. The dislocation of the lens causes the angle to close and the intraocular pressure to rise sharply, thus inducing glaucoma. On the second day of admission, Director Zhang Ying performed goniosynostosis combined with cataract surgery on Grandma Chen's left eye, and removed the chestnut thorns remaining in the eye. In order to prevent infection caused by chestnut thorns piercing the eyes, Deputy Chief Physician Zhang Ying also gave her antifungal drugs. When she was discharged from the hospital, Grandma Chen's left eye intraocular pressure returned to normal, her vision rose to 0.5, and her eyes were in good condition.

"Chestnuts are ripe, and chestnut farmers are busy harvesting. If you pick like Granny Chen, you rush to seize the time and don't wear protective gear, especially protective glasses, once your eyes are hit, it may cause eye diseases such as glaucoma, traumatic cataracts, and endophthalmitis." Deputy Chief Physician Zhang Ying introduced. She reminded the majority of chestnut farmers that they should take protective measures when working. If they unfortunately suffer eye injuries, if they experience decreased vision, blurred vision, eye pain and other discomforts, please go to the hospital's ophthalmology department for examination and treatment as soon as possible. In addition, it is recommended that patients with plant foreign body trauma to the eye go to the hospital as soon as possible for eye exploration and foreign body removal surgery, and anti-fungal infection treatment. Do not go to a small clinic to get an "anti-inflammatory injection" by yourself. If hormones are added to anti-inflammatory drugs, fungal infections may worsen, and the consequences are disastrous.