PURPOSE To describe the results of therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty in patients with impending perforation or perforated infectious keratitis. METHODS Fifty-nine charts of patients with infectious keratitis who were submitted to therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty were retrospectively reviewed at the Department of Ophthalmology of the Santa Casa of São Paulo from January 2000 to December...

Fungi of the genus Phoma are common plant pathogens and saprophytes and are rarely pathogenic to animals.

BACKGROUND Fungal keratitis is one of the major causes of infectious keratitis in tropical countries. Symptoms of fungal keratitis consist of blurred vision, redness, tearing, photophobia, pain and foreign body sensation. If not treated effectively, it could lead to blindness. Common causes include Candida spp., Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp.. With the limited choices of topical antifungal ...

BACKGROUND Fungal keratitis is a suppurative, ulcerative, and sight-threatening infection of the cornea that sometimes leads to loss of the eye. The objectives of this study were to improve facilities for laboratory diagnosis, to determine the predominant causative microorganisms, and to identify the predisposing factors of mycotic keratitis patients. METHODS A prospective study of corneal ul...

PURPOSE To assess the utility of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in diagnosing fungal keratitis and compare its sensitivity and specificity with those of the conventional microbiologic techniques used in the authors' laboratory. METHODS A prospective nonrandomized investigation was undertaken at a tertiary-care ophthalmic facility to evaluate 40 eyes of 40 patients with presumed fungal kerati...

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential efficacy of staining with methylthioninium chloride (MC) for the diagnosis of fungal keratitis. A total of 70 cases of fungal keratitis were included in the study from January 2009 to December 2010. The corneal scraping specimens of the patients were collected and stained with MC or a 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH)-based smear prior to micro...

PURPOSE The authors report a case of fungal scleral keratitis and endophthalmitis as a complication of pterygium surgery. METHODS Case presentation. RESULTS A 46-year old woman underwent pterygium excision with topical use of intraoperative mitomycin C. By day 21 after excision, scleral melting was followed by fungal keratitis. Endophthalmitis ensued, which rapidly progressed, despite surgi...

AIM To compare 2% econazole and 5% natamycin in the management of fungal keratitis. METHODS A randomised clinical trial was performed using 2% econazole or 5% natamycin as the two treatment arms on patients presenting with culture positive fungal keratitis to the cornea service at Aravind Eye Care System, Madurai, India. RESULTS 116 patients were recruited, and 112 continued in the study. T...

This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinico-demographical profile of keratomycosis. (January 2004 to January 2012). The corneal scrapings were processed by direct microscopic methods and standard culture techniques. Of 209 cases of keratitis studied, culture yielded growth in 80 cases (38.3%). Out of these 80 cases of growth, fungi were isolated in 77.5% and bacteria in 22.5%. The spectru...