Ocular injury with xylene--a report of two cases

Xylene is a hydrocarbon solvent found in various industrial preparations such as paint and is widely used in pathology laboratories. When inadvertently instilled into the eye significant ocular injury can occur with the potential for blindness. Such injuries to the ocular surface resemble those due to alkali. Ocular surface injury due to xylene has not been reported previously in the literature. We strongly recommend that these injuries be treated as emergencies in a similar way to alkali burns in the Eye department since the chemical mixture of which xylene forms a part may be alkaline. Such an approach is vital in order to save sight.