Chemo-paralysis for the removal of a live intraocular worm in ocular angiostrongyliasis.

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is also called the rodent lung worm. It was first discovered in 1935 by Chen in Rattus rattus, in Canton, China. The rodent is the definitive host while infected mollusks, snails and crabs act as the intermediate hosts. Humans are infected by the 3rd stage larvae, either by eating undercooked intermediate hosts or by consuming vegetables.(1) It is a delicate nematode reported in Asia Pacific region most commonly in South-east Asia and has been reported from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.(2) Anterior chamber angiostrogyliasis is extremely rare, and no previous case of ocular angiostrogyliasis from India could be found on Medline search. We report a new technique in the removal of the actively motile thread-like worm by paralysing it with intracameral preservative free lidocaine, which aids in the easy removal of the intact worm.