A 25-year-old Pakistani male with chronic liver disease (Hepatitis C positive) underwent branding of the anterior abdomen with a heated metal rod for severe pain (Figure ). One week later, he presented with altered mental status, high grade fever and multiple round circumscribed erythematous and indurated lesions on his abdomen ranging in size from 3 to 5 cm with black eschar and active drainage. His past medical history was noncontributory except for hepatitis C, diagnosed 10 years earlier. Ultrasound of the abdomen showed massive free fluid with splenomegaly and a shrunken liver. The ascitic fluid had a high white cell count (16,000/mm3) with 95% neutrophils. He was treated with a 3-week course of intravenous ceftriaxone and topical silver sulfadiazine and sterile dressings for 2 weeks. The fact that this was the first presentation with hepatic encephalopathy after branding, and pan sensitive E. Coli grew both from the branding inflicted skin wounds and ascitic fluid, points towards skin wounds inflicted by branding as the likely culprit for bacterial peritonitis and decompensated cirrhosis.
A 56-year-old female was referred to King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with central corneal thinning in her left eye and a scar. She reported a painless decrease in vision following the self-application of alum substances to her left eye for eye redness and discomfort. There was no history of previous trauma, surgery, or any ophthalmic disorder. There was no history of any systemic illness or use of any systemic or topical medications. Ophthalmic examination indicated the best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20 in the right eye (OD) and counting fingers at 1 m in the left eye (OS). Intraocular pressure measured with applanation tonometry was within the normal range bilaterally. Examination of the right eye was unremarkable except for a mild cataract. Slit-lamp examination of the left eye indicated a quiet conjunctiva and central corneal scar with no corneal epithelial defect; there was corneal thinning without descemetocele, nuclear sclerosis, and a hazy view of the fundus []. B-scan ultrasonography OS indicated no pathology at the posterior pole. The alum substance was analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and revealed the elements shown in .