Corneal trauma from projection of metallic mercury into the eyes

A 24-year-old woman sustained bilateral ocular lesions due to projection of mercury into the eyes during an explosion in a chemical laboratory. A lamellar keratectomy was performed on the right eye four hours after the accident, and 12 days later, the same procedure was performed of the left eye. Studies by light and electron microscopy were done on both specimens. The essential findings were total loss of epithelium, necrosis of keratocytes, absence of inflammatory reaction, and absence of superficial stromal repair in the specimen that was obtained 12 days after the accident. These findings indirectly confirm the importance of epithelium and normally vascularized conjunctiva in healing wounds of the cornea.