What is it about?
Sulfur mustard has been used as a vesicant chemical warfare agent. To investigate the ocular damage it causes, we studied the effects on chemical casualties in the Iran-Iraq War. The patient population consisted of more than 5,000 chemical casualties, both military and civilian.
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Why is it important?
Sulfur mustard has been used as a vesicant chemical warfare agent. To investigate the ocular damage it causes, we studied the effects on chemical casualties in the Iran-Iraq War. The patient population consisted of more than 5,000 chemical casualties, both military and civilian.The range of ocular damage was wide.The most common ocular effects were conjunctivitis and photophobia. Patients with significant corneal involvement are at risk for corneal ulceration and rarely for anterior chamber scarring and neovascularization, any of which would result in prolonged disability. In conclusion, the eye is the organ most sensitive to sulfur mustard vapor. Ocular injuries generally heal completely. In severe cases, blindness may occur. The need for corneal transplantation is rare.
Perspectives
The majority of SM casualties experience nonfatal but disablingeyeproblems, oftenduring a prolonged periodbefore full recovery. Mustard gas causes clinical symptoms after absorption from the conjunctiva of the eye. Physicians familiar with other alkylating agents used in clinical medicine deal mainly with their systemic toxicity to cells of the bone marrow, lymphoid tissue, and gut mucosa. The fact that wartime SM exposure involves external epithelial surfaces rather than primary systemic absorption largely accounts for this important difference in tissues affected.
Dr Mohammad Reza Safarinejad
University of Medical Sceices
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Ocular Injuries Caused by Mustard Gas: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Medical Defense, Military Medicine, January 2001, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/milmed/166.1.67.
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