A 74-year-old man presented to the Emergency Department at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital 3 days after self-application of latex from C. procera in his left eye (OS). He reported a painless decrease in vision. There was no history of previous trauma, surgery, or other ophthalmic disorder. Apart from hypertension, the patient had no medical illness.\nOphthalmic examination revealed best-corrected visual acuity of 20/40 in the right eye (OD) and hand motion vision in the OS. Intraocular pressure using applanation tonometry was within normal range in both eyes. Examination of the OD was unremarkable except for a mild cataract. Slit-lamp examination of the OS revealed quiet conjunctiva, no corneal epithelial defect, diffuse corneal edema with significant Descemet's folds and small pigmented keratic precipitates [ and ], nuclear sclerosis of the lens, and a hazy view of the fundus. B-scan ultrasonography of the OS showed no pathology of the posterior pole. Specular microscope SP-3000 P showed 2224 endothelial cells/mm2 in the OD and 593 cells/mm2 in the OS, with abnormal morphology.\nThe patient was started on topical prednisolone acetate 1% four times a day for the first week, after which it was tapered. In addition, topical cyclopentolate 1% drops three times a day were prescribed for the first 2 weeks. In the first follow-up at 1 week after presentation, his best-corrected visual acuity in the OS improved to 20/300. Slit-lamp examination showed a reduction in corneal edema and an increase in clarity with fewer Descemet's folds. In the second follow-up at 2 weeks after presentation, his best-corrected visual acuity improved to 20/200. Slit-lamp examination showed a clear cornea with no residual edema []. One month later, his best-corrected visual acuity was 20/80 in the OS. Six months later, the cornea remained clear with best-corrected visual acuity of 20/60 in the OS. The latex was sent for analysis and revealed the elements shown in . The result of phytochemical screening of petroleum ether and methanol leaf extracts of C. procera revealed the presence of glycosides, protein, triterpenoids, steroids, and flavonoids. The presence of these components in this species is an indication that it may have some medicinal potential. The latex of the C. procera was tested and was found completely varying in pH values. It has an acidic nature with pH of 4.2 at room temp of 25°C. The amount of magnesia was found in highest amount in latex. The level of chromium was completely absent [].
A 35-year-old Pakistani male with a history of chronic malaria, progressive splenomegaly and a complaint of severe left sided abdominal pain was treated by branding with a hot metal rod 7 days prior to admission. A week later he was admitted for septic shock and severe pain in the left hypochondrium. Past medical history was noncontributory except for an intermittent low-grade fever and occasional spikes of a high-grade fever with chills. On examination, he was disoriented and had multiple circular full-thickness burns to the anterior abdomen ranging in size from 2 to 5 cm across with central sparing of the skin and yellow discharge from the wounds. Blood and wound cultures grew Staphylococcus aureus. Abdominal ultrasound on admission showed a massively enlarged spleen with multiple rounded areas of complex echogenicity showing multiple splenic abscesses which were not seen in previous ultrasounds. He was treated with broad spectrum antibiotics and silver sulfadiazine. A splenectomy was performed and a gross examination confirmed the existence of multiple splenic abscesses which were also positive for Staph. aureus. Culture of pus from the spleen revealed growth of same Staph. aureus that were present on burn wounds complicated by skin branding. The patient died in the fourth week during the course of treatment.