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Editorial—Localisation of Foreign Bodies of Low Radio Opacity in the Eye

This excerpt was created in the absence of an abstract.

The demonstration and localisation of all foreign bodies calls for much ingenuity and accuracy and in as much as one is excluding the presence of minute fragments it is indispensable that radiographic technique must be faultless.

The super-imposition of bony structures in radiographs of the orbital region often completely mask the presence of fragments of bodies of equal or less density than the super-imposed structures. Various complications obtrude in such localisations such as (a) the distortion of the normal anatomical relationship of the eyeball by the pathological sequelæ of trauma, e.g., œdema, hæmorrhage, laceration, etc., (b) multiplicity and varying size of splinters of varying opacity made exact identification often almost impossible.

The extensive use of light alloys in industry and armaments has created a new problem for radiologists, namely the demonstration of foreign bodies of low radio opacity. The eyeball is one of the most difficult and at the same time the most important site to demonstrate these foreign bodies. Nor is the difficulty confined to light alloys, intra-ocular fragments of plastics whose radio opacity is notoriously small create further problems. The demonstration of the old-fashioned lead glass was comparatively easy although to some extent it depended on the size of the glass fragment present.