Gas in the orbit associated with orbital cellulitis and paranasal sinusitis.

A coloured male, aged i6 years, whose occupation was a metal grinder, was first seen in the Eye Out-Patients' Department at Groote Schuur Hospital on July I6, I97I. He gave a 3-day history of a sudden onset of pain in the left eye followed by swelling of the lids and proptosis. He could not recall sustaining trauma to the left eye nor could he recall being injured by a foreign body entering the eye. About the same time he developed a cough productive of purulent sputum. He was referred to the Department of Ophthalmology by a medical practitioner who had treated the patient with parenteral penicillin for 2 days.