Fungal Keratitis
摘要
Fungal infections of the eye including keratitis can have devastating consequences. Untreated fungal keratitis may progress to endophthalmitis and loss of the eye. Fungal keratitis is relatively rare in the United States except in the southern states. However, contact lens-associated fungal keratitis caused by Fusarium species was reported in at least 130 patients from 26 states [1]. In South Asia, Africa, and other tropical climates, fungal keratitis occurs more commonly. Reports from India show that as much as 44% of microbial keratitis could be caused by fungi [2]. Candida species and filamentous fungi, such as Fusarium species, are the most frequent fungal isolates associated with keratitis in patients treated at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in the United States [3]. Of the 421 corneal isolates identified, Fusarium species were the most frequent fungal pathogen (49.4%), followed by Curvularia (8.1%), Aspergillus (7.1%), and Paecilomyces species (5%). Other studies have also reported Fusarium species as the commonest cause of fungal keratitis [4]. Fungal keratitis is a significant cause of corneal blindness, particularly in developing countries, in tropical and subtropical regions where approximately half of the world’s fungal keratitis cases occur [5], and the contribution of fungal keratitis, as one of the major causes of visual loss, cannot be ignored [6].