Abstract
PURPOSE: We described the rate of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) in a referral eye center in São Paulo, Brazil, through a retrospective review of clinical and laboratorial records of patients over 2 decades. METHODS: From 1987 to 2006, a total of 581 requests for amoebic laboratory workup in cases of infectious keratitis were investigated. Statistical analyses were applied to analyze a tendency of AK cases. RESULTS: Acanthamoeba species were cultured from corneal scrapings of 185 patients, 5 of them with bilateral infection. Eighty-three percent of those patients were related with contact lens wear. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that patients with AK have persisted and increased over time at our ophthalmology center. Contact lenses showed to be a potential risk factor. Amoebic corneal infection can be considered as a new but well-established disease in Brazilian ophthalmology and visual sciences.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 516-519 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Cornea |
Volume | 28 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2009 |
Keywords
- Acanthamoeba
- Case series
- Keratitis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ophthalmology