Background: Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) keratitis is a leading cause of corneal blindness. Definitive laboratory diagnosis is essential for timely management. Collection of corneal scrapings in patients with advanced epithelial keratitis and corneal thinning poses perforation risks; tear fluid is a feasible and convenient alternative but has not been widely evaluated for HSV detection.
Methods: Tear fluid alone (229) or along with corneal scrapings (153) from patients of suspected herpetic keratitis was tested for HSV-1 antigen by indirect immunofluorescence assay, virus isolation in Hep 2 cells and PCR to amplify the 111bp region of the thymidine kinase (tk) coding gene and the 144bp region from the DNA polymerase coding gene of HSV.
Results: HSV 1 antigen was detected in 31/229 (13.53%) tear specimen and 35/153 (22.87%) corneal scrapings in immunofluorescence assay; virus was isolated from 12/229 (5.2%) tear and 17/153 (11.11%) corneal scrapings, and PCR was positive for both the genes in 32/229 (13.97%) tear specimen and 56/153 (36.66%) corneal scrapings.
Conclusion: Corneal scrapings yielded a significantly better HSV positivity than tears in both the PCR assay (p<0.0005) and immunofluorescence assay. PCR was much more sensitive than immunofluorescence and virus isolation. However, tears should be tested for definitive laboratory diagnosis of HSV infection whenever corneal scraping collection is not possible.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjo.2010.191049 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Fungal keratitis caused by : a case report.
Front Med (Lausanne)
December 2024
Department of Ophthalmology, Ningbo Yinzhou No.2 Hospital, Ningbo Urology and Nephrology Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
Background: We report a rare case of fungal keratitis caused by , a filamentous fungus that is widely distributed in soil and graminaceous plants.
Case Presentation: A 40-year-old Mongoloid male patient came to our outpatient clinic with painful swelling of the left eye and redness, after being cut by a tree branch 1 week prior. After examination, the patient was diagnosed with a corneal ulcer of the left eye, and was given levofloxacin eye drops and levofloxacin ophthalmic gel.
[Peripheral ulcerative keratitis associated with dupilumab: a case report].
Zhonghua Yan Ke Za Zhi
January 2025
Department of Ophthalmology,Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology Institute of Geriatric Medicine,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences,Beijing100730,China.
Article Synopsis
- A 68-year-old male experienced irritation in both eyes, including symptoms like photophobia and tearing, after starting dupilumab for severe atopic dermatitis.
- He had a specific corneal ulcer in the right eye and a pannus in the left eye, but tests ruled out infections.
- Treatment with eye drops led to significant improvement, and follow-up revealed healing of the corneal lesions and improved vision.
Reverse endothelial scraping technique (REST) for an infectious corneal endothelial plaque.
BMJ Case Rep
December 2024
Department of Microbiology, Dr Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital Delhi, New Delhi, India.
A male patient in his 20s, suffering from a persistent, infection-related corneal endothelial plaque (EP) was urgently referred to our tertiary medical centre for therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty (TPK). Over the preceding month, he had been undergoing treatment with both topical and oral antifungal medications due to clinical suspicion of fungal keratitis. At our centre, an endothelial scraping was performed using a reverse Sinskey hook to obtain samples for microbiology and revealed septate branching fungal hyphae.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCausative Agents of Fungal Keratitis in Northeastern Iran: A 3-Year Tertiary Care Hospital Study.
Am J Trop Med Hyg
December 2024
Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Infectious keratitis is a significant ocular disease that, if left untreated, can lead to blindness. Fungi are among the causative agents that can result in severe symptoms. Keratitis infections are prevalent globally, with a higher incidence reported in tropical and subtropical regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCorneal bee sting injury: a clinical conundrum.
BMJ Case Rep
December 2024
Shantilal Shanghvi Cornea Institute (SSCI), L V Prasad Eye Institute(LVPEI), Kode Venkatadri Chowdary(KVC) Campus, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India
This study outlines the clinical features and comprehensive management of three cases of corneal injury by a bee sting. The stinger removal was attempted, and in two cases, the stinger was successfully removed. In one case, a portion of the stinger broke and was left in situ without inciting any further inflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!