Cover image via New England Journal of Medicine
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A 35-year-old man in rural India who complained of blurry vision was horrified to discover a live, parasitic worm moving inside his eyeball
The bizarre case was recently detailed in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Doctors examining the man's eye found a worm "moving sluggishly" in the posterior segment of his eye.
The parasite was identified as Gnathostoma spinigerum, a roundworm typically found in cats and dogs.
The man likely became infected after consuming raw or undercooked freshwater fish and poultry, which allowed the worm to enter his body and travel to his eye
According to Dr Abdhish Bhavsar, a clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, such infections are incredibly dangerous.
"Some of these worms can cause significant damage to the eye and to the vision or even potentially cause blindness," he told MedPage Today.
To prevent permanent damage, doctors performed a surgical procedure known as a pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) to carefully remove the worm from the man's eye.
