A Case of Phthiriasis Palpebrarum Treated with Tea Tree Oil in a Child

In Ki Park; Hyun Koo; Yeoun Sook Chun

doi:10.3341/jkos.2011.52.10.1222

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Park, Koo, and Chun: A Case of Phthiriasis Palpebrarum Treated with Tea Tree Oil in a Child

Original Article

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc 2011;52(10):1222-1226.

Published online: 7 September 2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2011.52.10.1222

A Case of Phthiriasis Palpebrarum Treated with Tea Tree Oil in a Child

In Ki Park, MD¹, Hyun Koo, MD², Yeoun Sook Chun, MD, PhD²

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Kyung Hee Medical Center, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

²Department of Ophthalmology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Address reprint requests to Yeoun Sook Chun, MD, PhD Department of Ophthalmology, Chung-Ang University Hospital #224-1 Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 156-755, Korea Tel: 82-2-6299-1690, Fax: 82-2-825-1666, E-mail: yschun100@hanmail.net

Received 10 May 2010 Accepted 21 March 2011

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

The authors of the present study report a case of phthiriasis palpebrarum treated with petrolatum ointment and tea tree oil in a 12-month-old boy.

Case summary

A bluish-gray macule and blood clots were found on the central portion of the upper eyelid of a boy who had rubbed his eyelid vigorously 1 week prior. Several 0.5 mm sized brownish-gray nits and 1.6 mm sized lice on the eyelashes were visible and was diagnosed with phthiriasis palpebrarum after light microscopic examination. The nits and lice were gently removed mechanically with the help of a white petrolatum ointment (Vaseline) and the eyelashes were cleaned with 50% tea tree oil. Nits and lice were successfully eradicated without recurrence 10 days after daily treatment with petrolatum ointment and 10% tea tree oil eyelash cleansing.

Keywords: Petrolatum ointment, Phthiriasis palpebrarum, Phthirus pubis, Tea tree oil

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Figure 1.

Phthiriasis palpebrarum. The patient had a bluish-gray discoloration of upper eyelid with blood clots (red circle) and a nit (arrow) on the eyelashes (A). A louse (1.6 mm, arrow head) and two nits (0.5 mm, arrow) were removed mechanically using petrolatum ointment (B, scale bar: 1 mm).

Figure 2.

Microscopic view of a louse (A, ×40) and a nit (B, ×100). A nit is tightly attached to the shaft of the cilia with cement.

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