<i>Penicillium</i>keratitis in a HIV-infected patient

A 36-year-old HIV-positive man presented with symptoms of redness, blurred vision and foreign body sensation in his right eye for 3 months. The slit lamp examination revealed deep stromal infiltration with a feathery margin in an otherwise minimal anterior chamber reaction. A corneal scraping was negative. Confocal microscopy demonstrated an abnormal large hyper-reflective oval shape in the corneal stroma. Corneal infiltration did not show improvement after topical, intrastromal and intracameral antifungal treatment. Therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty was performed to eradicate the infection. Corneal button culture and histopathological results confirmed the diagnosis of Penicillium marneffei keratitis. No recurrent infection occurred after corneal transplantation. This appears to be the first report of P. marneffei keratitis in an HIV-infected patient. Although it is an uncommon condition, it should be one of the differential diagnoses in an HIV-infected patient presenting with keratitis

Successful treatment of Chrysosporium keratitis with voriconazole

Onsiri Thanathanee, Chavakij Bhoomibunchoo,&nbsp;Orapin Anutarapongpan,&nbsp;Olan Suwan-apichon,&nbsp;Yosanan Yospaiboon KKU Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand Objective: To report a patient with severe Chrysosporium keratitis successfully treated by voriconazole.Method: Case report.Results: A 37-year-old healthy male presented with irritation, pain and reduced vision in his left eye after mud contamination. Examination demonstrated corneal stromal infiltration, endothelial plaque and hypopyon. Corneal scrapings demonstrated numerous septate hyphae, and specimen cultures were positive for Chrysosporium sp. The lesion did not respond to aggressive topical 5% natamycin, 0.15% topical amphotericin B and oral itraconazole. The patient was then treated by topical 1% voriconazole every hour. Intracameral and intrastromal voriconazole injections (50  &mu;g/0.1  mL) were also undertaken. The keratitis was significantly improved after voriconazole.Conclusion: To the best of the authors&rsquo; knowledge, this is the first report on the use of voriconazole for Chrysosporium keratitis. Voriconazole may be an effective alternative to conventional antifungal agents in some cases of fungal keratitis. It should be considered before shifting to therapeutic keratoplasty. Keywords: Chrysosporium, keratitis, keratoplasty, voriconazol

Randomised controlled study of conjunctival autograft versus amniotic membrane graft in pterygium excision

AIM: To determine whether amniotic membrane can be used as an alternative to conjunctival autograft after pterygium excision. METHODS: 287 eyes with either primary or recurrent pterygium were included in this study. All eyes were randomised to undergo conjunctival autograft or amniotic membrane transplantation after pterygium excision by a single surgeon. 106 eyes in primary pterygium and 14 eyes in the recurrent group were treated with conjunctival autograft, and 148 eyes in primary pterygium and 19 eyes in the recurrent group were treated with amniotic membrane transplantation. Patients were followed up at 6 weeks and 6 months after operation. The main outcome measurement was recurrence rate after surgery. RESULTS: In the conjunctival group, the recurrence rate was 12.3%, 21.4% and 13.1% for primary, recurrent and all pterygia, respectively. In the amniotic membrane group, the recurrence rate was 25.0%, 52.6% and 28.1% for primary, recurrent and all pterygia, respectively. The recurrence rate for all pterygia in the amniotic membrane group was significantly higher than that in the conjunctival group (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Amniotic membrane graft had a higher recurrence rate than conjunctival autograft. However, it is an alternative choice, especially for advanced cases with bilateral heads or patients who might need glaucoma surgery later