“Eye Dropping”—A Case Report of Transconjunctival Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Drug Abuse

Abstract

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of bilateral hemorrhagic conjunctival abrasion and corneal abrasion secondary to LSD. "Kissing" conjunctival lesions, which have been previously reported with heroin use, should raise suspicion for drug abuse.

Drugs of abuse and ocular effects

“…3,16,19,25,41,42,44,45,49,68,81,83,106,130,191,192 Third, street drugs are not often consumed in their pure form, as they may be diluted or cut with additional compounds, which may carry unknown biological effects which may also be confounding. 81,143 For example, heroin is sometimes known to be cut with quinine, 82 cocaine has been reported to be cut with sodium bicarbonate, sugar, local anaesthetics, amphetamines, caffeine, or heroin. 66 Fourth, many news drugs are not detected by the regular screenings, which may lead to underreporting of drug-related ocular effects.…”

“…142 There are many ways it is consumed: by ingestion, swallowing or holding a paper on mouth or on mucous membranes such as the conjunctiva. ,142, 143 Occasional reports include a case of 'eye dropping', where a young man inserted an LSD-impregnated paper into the palpebral conjunctiva of both eyes, causing a bilateral toxic corneal and conjunctival epitheliopathy, with corneal abrasion. As a weak base, LSD is thought to affect only to epithelium, instead of causing a deeper corneal burn.…”

“…As a weak base, LSD is thought to affect only to epithelium, instead of causing a deeper corneal burn. 143 One concern is the presence of videos on social media, which are popularising this method of consuming this drug.…”