Ocular loiasis affecting a child and its assessment by Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography

A 9-year-old girl from Equatorial Guinea presented to the emergency department complaining of foreign body sensation in her right eye. A thin and large, translucent, slowly moving, coiled worm was observed underneath the conjunctiva. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography revealed hyperreflective small areas surrounded by larger hyporeflective areas into the subconjunctival space. Loa loa microfilaria was evidenced on blood test. Surgical extraction of the subconjunctival worm was intended on slit lamp and under sedation in the operating room, but it was unsuccessful due to poor cooperation and rapid migration of the larva into the sub-Tenon’s space. The patient received two cycles of oral albendazole and one cycle of diethylcarbamazine before achieving complete microfilaria seroconversion. Abbreviations: AS-OCT = Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography, PCR = Polymerase Chain Reaction, DEC = diethylcarbamazine.