TY  - JOUR
A1  - Rafiezadeh, Parviz
A1  - Schmack, Ingo
A1  - Shajari, Mehdi
A1  - Kohnen, Thomas
T1  - Autoimmune keratitis in mycobacterium tuberculosis
T2  - Journal of current ophthalmology
N2  - Purpose: To report a case of autoimmune keratitis in a patient with mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT).
Methods: An 84-year-old male with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) was admitted with chronic, non-healing bilateral ulcerations of the inferior peripheral cornea associated with stromal and subconjunctival nodules.
Results: Clinical examination revealed circumscribed peripheral corneal ulceration with whitish nodules in adjacent stromal and subconjunctival tissue. Microbiological cultures of the corneal tissue were negative for MBT and other microbial pathogens; however, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of blood and corneal samples showed significantly elevated levels of IgM and IgA against MBT. In addition to systemic anti-tuberculosis therapy, the patient was treated topically with Polyspectran® eye drops, Dexamethasone eye drops, and Bepanthen® ointment, for 2 weeks. Both eyes showed dramatic improvement after 2 weeks.
Conclusion: The present report demonstrates that MBT is able to initiate delayed autoimmune response within the corneal tissue during an intensive phase of anti-tuberculosis treatment.
KW  - Ocular tuberculosis
KW  - Scrofulous keratitis
KW  - Phlyctenule
KW  - Autoimmune response
Y1  - 2018
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/77434
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-774345
SN  - 2452-2325
VL  - 30
IS  - 4
SP  - 381
EP  - 383
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -