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    Pediculosis Pubis

    By Luis Guillermo Riveros, MD, Miramichi Regional Hospital, Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada, and edited by Michael P. Kelly, FOPS
    Photographed by Allan Connor, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto
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    Pediculosis Pubis

    A 49-year-old man who was undergoing chemotherapy for carcinoma of the colon was referred to ocular oncology with an inflamed eye. The symptoms had developed suddenly, and he assumed they were a complication of his chemotherapy or disease. 

    Slit-lamp examination showed that his eyebrow, upper lid, and eyelashes were infested with pediculosis in both the active (louse) and egg (nit) stages. Examination of the lice determined that they were pediculosis pubis.

    The lice and eggs were removed, and the patient was treated topically with Tobradex (tobramycin and dexamethasone) to retard bacterial infection and control inflammation. Full recovery ensued.

    (This image won an honorable mention in External Photography at the OPS/Academy exhibit in 2011.)

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