The optical imaging of tarantula hair corneal injury: One case report and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION

Tarantulas belonging to the Theraphosidae family are more and more popular as family pets. Ocular injuries caused by tarantulas are reported in several articles. We hereby report the first known case of ocular injury caused by a tarantula in China and observed by anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).

CASE

A 22-year-old girl was referred to our hospital with one-week history of red and irritated left eye after she grabbed her molting Chilean Rose Tarantula. Her best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 on both eyes. Her left eyelid was slightly red and edema. Slit-lamp examination found that more than a dozen of microscopic barbed hairs embedded into the cornea. AS-OCT showed that barbed hairs embedded in the cornea in different direction and the length of the hairs ranged from 173μm to 395μm. The anterior chamber was quiet with normal fundus and intraocular pressure. Topical steroid treatment was prescribed and the response was good. No corneal opacity or intraocular inflammation was observed after topical steroid treatment for one month.

CONCLUSIONS

As exotic pets become more and more popular, the importance of wearing ocular protection when handling tarantulas should be emphasized when they are sold. Tarantulas are unsuitable pet for children. When a patient presents with an unusual red eye, pet-keeping history, spiders included, should be asked.