[Spontaneous, bifocal rupture of the limbus in secondary angle closure glaucoma after open globe injury]

To report on a case of bifocal rupture of the limbus that developed in a young male with secondary angle closure glaucoma 7 months after penetrating eye injury.

A 20-year old male suffered from severe polytrauma due to a car accident. Examination revealed an open globe injury of the left eye due to corneal penetration by a foreign body (glass). After primary wound closure a pars plana vitrectomy with lens extraction and removal of the foreign body was performed. Five months later IOP increased markedly and could neither be controlled by antiglaucomatous medication nor by cyclophotocoagulation. Seven months after the injury a bifocal, closed rupture of the upper nasal and temporal corneoscleral limbus occurred. IOP of the eye was elevated despite the rupture. The limbal dehiscence was readapted and IOP increased again. A new limbal rupture occurred and a tectonic keratoplasty was performed. Because a marked thinning of the transplanted cornea occurred accompanied by strong evidence of advanced epithelial ingrowth the eye was enucleated. Histologic examination of the excised tissue and enucleated eye showed diffuse epithelial ingrowth.

This is first reported case of delayed, spontaneous, bifocal rupture of the corneoscleral limbus after primary open globe injury. It may be speculated that severe contusion of the eye with structural damage of the corneoscleral limbus preceded the penetrating injury and that the later limbal rupture was caused by a marked elevated IOP due to epithelial ingrowth.