Corneal foreign bodies of coconut origin

Corneal foreign bodies of varied nature have been reported, however, vegetable foreign bodies in the cornea have seldom been described. A case is reported of a male from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific who retained a number of deep corneal foreign bodies after being struck in the eye by a piece of a coconut shell. The foreign bodies caused considerable inflammation which ceased after they were exposed and removed by means of a centrally based lamellar corneal flap. The patient's eye has remained quiet for 4 months following removal of the foreign bodies.