use strict;
my $str = '#333 /*do not track*/
#ff0000 /*do not track*/
#item1 /*found*/
#item2 /*found*/
#item3 /*found*/';
my $regex = qr/#(?=item\d)/mp;
my $subst = '.';
my $result = $str =~ s/$regex/$subst/rg;
print "The result of the substitution is' $result\n";
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html