A 7-year-old boy who had experienced months of constant redness and itching in his eye found relief when clinicians removed a mature tooth from the eye, according to a case report published on April 9 in JAMA Ophthalmology.
After the procedure, the doctors determined that the underlying white outer layer of the boy's eye appeared normal. When the tissue was examined, clinicians discovered a fibrocollagenous cyst wall with a denuded lining epithelium and focal point of calcification, the report showed.
"A final diagnosis of the epibulbar dermoid cyst with a tooth was made," wrote the authors, led by Manpreet Singh, MS, DNB, of the Advanced Eye Centre's department of ophthalmology at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India.
The boy visited the doctor after experiencing continuous redness and itching in his left eye for two months.
Clinicians saw a well-defined, 6 x 5-mm yellowish-pink epibulbar mass with overlying blood vessels in the boy's eye during a slit lamp examination, which provides a view of the retina and optic nerve. The mass was hard and immobile, the authors wrote.
Further testing showed a less dense lesion with posterior acoustic shadowing on the outermost layer of the white of the eye. Computed tomography results of the orbits showed a focal point of hyperdensity over the left temporal coat of the white of the eye, according to the report.
The boy underwent a surgical excision, resulting in the removal of an ivory-colored mature tooth and its surrounding capsule, according to the report.
