Inadvertent formaldehyde exposure leading to a fuming cornea: A case report

We report a 51-year-old male with iatrogenic exposure of formaldehyde (FA) leading to severe corneal edema. A 51-year-old male was referred due to a sudden diminution of vision in his left eye after getting a surgical excision of the basal cell carcinoma of the lid by the plastic surgeon. On examination, the left eye showed severe corneal edema with several deep Descemet’s folds and endothelitis. The patient was successfully treated with topical hyperosmotic agents, topical steroids, antiglaucoma, and cycloplegic. The corneal edema resolved dramatically. To the best of our knowledge, no FA exposure of the cornea has been reported in the literature.