Compound nevu of the cornea imulating a foreign body

PURPOE: To report a corneal nevu, without conjunctival involvement, that clinically imulated a metallic foreign body. METHOD: Cae report with clinicopathologic correlation. REULT: A 22-year-old man developed a uperficial pigmented leion of hi left cornea. It wa upected to be a chronically retained foreign body, but a melanocytic neoplam could not be excluded. The leion wa removed by lamellar keratectomy and proved hitopathologically to be a compound nevu of the cornea, without conjunctival involvement. CONCLUION: Melanocytic nevu can rarely occur in the cornea. Involvement of the cornea by a melanocytic leion doe not necearily imply a malignant melanoma.