An unexpected retained metallic intraocular foreign body

This case report aims to describe a rare case of asymptomatic retained metallic intraocular foreign body (IOFB) in the retina with reduced full-field electroretinography (ff-ERG) in a Chinese woman.

This is a clinical investigation of a patient who unexpectedly presented with a metallic IOFB at the superior-temporal region of the left eye ring during a brain computed tomography.

Her best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes. The dilated fundus photograph of the left eye revealed a metallic IOFB in the retina. She reported no ocular symptoms. A diagnosis of asymptomatic metallic IOFB was made definitely. The subsequent ff-ERG demonstrated subnormal amplitudes of dark and light adaption in the left eye, whereas responses were normal in the right eye.

Our findings suggest the application of ff-ERG has important benefits for evaluating the visual function in patients with retained IOFB.