Evaluation of Microbiological Culture and Antibiogram of the Patient with Corneal Ulcer due to Exposure Keratitis in the Intensive Care Unit in Sina Farshchian Hospital (2019-2020)

Background: Since patients admitted to the intensive care unit have a compromised im-mune system and are more prone to infection than other patients, timely diagnosis and treatment of corneal ulcers among this group of patients can prevent vision loss. Therefore, it is necessary to treat eye infections and corneal ulcers promptly and economize prohibitive costs. Objective(s): Appropriate treatment with the most effective antibiotic before the answer is available to prevent corneal ulcer complications and blindness. Method(s): This study was conducted from November 2019 to November 2020 and after approval by the ethics committee of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences with the code of ethics: IR.UMSHA.REC.1398.716. First, the corneal secretions of 121 patients admitted to the intensive care unit of Sina Hospital are prepared by an ophthalmologist (after anesthetizing the cornea with tetra-caine drops and sterile swabs) and culture in four growth mediums (blood agar, chocolate agar, thio-glycolate, and EMB). Microbial cultures are examined after 48 hours and a fungal culture is examined one week later. Disc diffusions are placed in positive microbial cultures. Antibiotic susceptibility or resistance of the antibiogram was recorded. Other demographic data, including patients' age and sex, are extracted from ICU files. Also, test results and patient identifications are recorded in a checklist designed for this purpose. Result(s): Of all the antibiotics used against common bacteria, vancomycin (84%), colistin (80.43%), cefazolin (80%), and levofloxacin (60%) had the highest sensitivity and gentamicin (93.75%), ceftazidime (86.42%) Erythromycin (85%) had the highest resistance against isolated bacteria. Conclusion(s): The data obtained from this study showed that the most common microorganisms in the age group under the age of 30 years were Acinetobacter Baumannii, in the group of 30-60 years old was Klebsiella pneumonia, and age group over 61 years old was Staphylococcus aureus, and the most sensitive antibiotics in the age group under 30 years were vancomycin and levofloxacin and the age group30-60 were colistin and vancomycin and in the age group over 61 years were vancomycin and cefazolin.Copyright © 2023 Bentham Science Publishers.

Lymphoproliferation- a clue towards an underlying monogenic disorder of immune dysregulation- a retrospective analysis from a single center in India

Background: Lymphoproliferation is the persistent proliferation of lymphoid cells and it's incidence in inborn errors of immunity varies from 0.7 to 18%. Material(s) and Method(s): This is a retrospective analysis of patients referred to the department of Immunology, B. J. Wadia Hospital for Children, Mumbai between March 2017 to December 2022. Inclusion criteria consisted of 3 months duration of significant lymphadenopathy and/or splenomegaly or history of lymphoma. The clinical characteristics, laboratory and molecular findings of the included patients were analyzed. Result(s): A total of 66 patients were included. There was a male preponderance with male:female ratio of 25:8. Median age of onset of lymphoproliferation was 4.75 years(Range 1 year to 60 years). Splenomegaly was seen in 75%. Infections included recurrent pneumonia (14/66), recurrent ear infections(5/66), COVID(4/66), one episode of pneumonia(6/66), herpes zoster(3/66), recurrent subcutaneous abscess (3/66), abdominal koch(3/66), chronic sinusitis(2/66), dermatophytosis(2/66), esophageal candidiasis(2/66), recurrent malaria(1/66), recurrent varicella(1/66), cryptococcal meningitis(1/66), gram negative sepsis(1/66), BCG adenitis(1/66), pseudomonas osteomyelitis(1/66), impetigo (1/66), pseudomonas urinary tract infection (1/66), chicken pox(1/66), herpes keratitis(1/66), dengue(1/66), Other manifestations included Evans plus phenotype(10/66), Evans phenotype(8/66), Autoimmune hemolytic anemia(5/66), bronchiectasis(5/66), Type 1 diabetes(3/66), hyper reactive airway disease(2/66), inflammatory bowel disease(4/66), autoimmune thrombocytopenia(2/66), stroke(3/66), hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis(2/66), hypertriglyceridemia(2/66), hypothyroidism(2/66), celiac disease(1/66), Type 2 diabetes(1/66), autoimmune encephalitis(1/66), autoimmune hepatitis(2/66), anti-parietal cell antibody(1/66), arthritis(1/66), autoimmune enteropathy(1/66), systemic lupus erythromatosus(1/66), primary biliary cirrhosis requiring liver transplant(1/66), nephrotic syndrome(1/66), lymphoedema(1/66), hypersplenism(1/66), recurrent oral ulcers(1/66), gout(1/66), dermatitis(1/66), ovarian teratoma(1/66), alopecia areata(1/66). Hodgkin's lymphoma(HL) was the most common malignancy(9/66), followed by non Hodgkin lymphoma(NHL)(6/66), transformation from NHL to HL(1/66), Burkitt to T-cell lymphoma(1/66), HL to DLBCL(1/66), HL to anaplastic T-cell lymphoma(1/66). EBV driven lymphoproliferation was seen in biopsy of21/66. Genetic testing showed mutations in LRBA(11/66), PIK3CD(5/66), CTLA4(3/66), TET2(2/66), IL2RA (1/66), IL12RB1(1/66), BACH2(1/66), PRKCD(1/66), TNFSFR13B(1/66), TNFAIP3(1/66), FAS(2/66), FASL(1/66), Caspase8(1/66), CARD11(1/66), RTEL1(1/66), AICD(1/66), PIK3R1(1/66), IKBKB(1/66). Treatment included IVIG, chemotherapy, rituximab, sirolimus, abatacept, HSCT. Conclusion(s): All children with persistent lymphoproliferation, with or without autoimmunity and/or infections should be worked up for an underlying monogenic disorder of immune dysregulation. Lymphomas presenting at abnormal site and/or age, relapse and EBV driven lymphomas require further evaluation. Presence of monogenic cause helps in providing targeted therapy.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc.

Vitamin A Deficiency, COVID-19, and Rhino-Orbital Mucormycosis (Black Fungus): An Analytical Perspective.

Mucormycosis is a rare but serious opportunistic fungal disease characterized by rhino-orbito-cerebral and pulmonary involvement. It is mainly seen in people with secondary immunosuppression, isolated vitamin A deficiency, measles, and AIDS patients. It showed a rise during the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in the spring of 2021 in India, especially in diabetic COVID-19 patients. Vitamin A deficiency is known to cause nutritional immunodeficiency and hence leading the way to increased opportunistic fungal, bacterial, and viral infections. In the eye, it causes keratitis, night blindness, xerophthalmia, conjunctivitis, Bitot spots, keratomalacia, and retinopathy. It also causes decreased tear secretion and deterioration of the anatomical/physiological defense barrier of the eye. The negative impact of vitamin A deficiency has been previously demonstrated in measles, AIDS, and COVID-19. We think that mucormycosis in COVID-19 might be rendered by vitamin A deficiency and that vitamin A supplementation may have preventive and therapeutic values against mucormycosis and other ocular symptoms associated with COVID-19. However, any vitamin A treatment regimen needs to be based on laboratory and clinical data and supervised by medical professionals.

Ophthalmic manifestations of monkeypox infection.

After the global COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an alarming concern with the monkeypox (mpox) outbreak, which has affected more than 110 countries worldwide. Monkeypox virus is a doublestranded DNA virus of the genus Orthopox of the Poxviridae family, which causes this zoonotic disease. Recently, the mpox outbreak was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Monkeypox patients can present with ophthalmic manifestation and ophthalmologists have a role to play in managing this rare entity. Apart from causing systemic involvement such as skin lesions, respiratory infection and involvement of body fluids, Monkeypox related ophthalmic disease (MPXROD) causes varied ocular manifestations such as lid and adnexal involvement, periorbital and lid lesion, periorbital rash, conjunctivitis, blepharocounctivitis and keratitis. A detailed literature review shows few reports on MPXROD infections with limited overview on management strategies. The current review article is aimed to provide the ophthalmologist with an overview of the disease with a spotlight on ophthalmic features. We briefly discuss the morphology of the MPX, various modes of transmission, an infectious pathway of the virus, and the host immune response. A brief overview of the systemic manifestations and complications has also been elucidated. We especially highlight the detailed ophthalmic manifestations of mpox, their management, and prevention of vision threatening sequelae.

Trachipleistophora hominis: molecular characterization of a rare pathogen causing microsporidial stromal keratitis.

The authors report the clinical and microbiological findings of a unique case of stromal keratitis caused by a rare microsporidium, Trachipleistophora hominis. This case of stromal keratitis was in a 49-year-old male with a history of COVID-19 infection and diabetes mellitus. Corneal scraping specimens revealed numerous microsporidia spores upon microscopic examination. PCR of the corneal button revealed the presence of T. hominis infection, which could be controlled by penetrating keratoplasty surgery. The graft was clear with no recurrence of infection until the last follow-up 6 weeks postsurgery. This is the first case of human stromal keratitis caused by this organism in a post-COVID infection, confirmed by molecular diagnosis.

COVID-19-related Conjunctivitis Review: Clinical Features and Management.

PURPOSE: The ongoing coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has greatly impacted theworld. In this review article, we discuss the conjunctival and nasolacrimal mucosa as a potential route for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission, its ocular manifestations, and management. METHODS: Literature review was conducted in the PubMed, Google Scholar and EMBASE databases using keywords such as "coronavirus", COVID-19", "SARS-CoV-2", "conjunctivitis", "ocular surface", "eye" and "ophthalmology". RESULTS: The ocular surface may serve as an entry point and reservoir for the virus. Frequency of hand-eye contact was an independent risk factor for COVID-19-related conjunctivitis. Therefore, appropriate protective eyewear or face shields are recommended, especially for health-care workers. Bilateral conjunctival sampling within 9 days of symptom onset provides a higher positive yield rate. Pooled analysis shows an incidence of 11.4% (95%CI = 6.4-17.2%) of ocular manifestations in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, including hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients. CONCLUSION: Conjunctivitis was the most common ocular manifestation, of which ocular redness or congestion, ocular pain, and follicular conjunctivitis were the most common presentation.COVID-19-related conjunctivitis has a self-limiting disease course, and treatment should be mainly supportive.

AAPOS Pediatric Uveitis Committee: COVID-19-infection, inflammation, and challenges in children with noninfectious uveitis

Purpose/Relevance: Pediatric cases of COVID-19 have increased in the setting of the highly transmissible delta variant which has impacted the care of children by ophthalmologists. Inflammatory ocular manifestations of acute COVID-19 infections have been observed and are important to recognize and expeditiously manage. Further, ocular involvement has been recognized in MIS-C. Finally, new challenges in treating and monitoring patients with non-infectious uveitis (NIU) evolved. Guidance is needed regarding immunosuppression, reducing clinic visits/in-hospital exposures while maintaining disease control, and vaccination. Target Audience: Pediatric ophthalmologists, fellows, residents. Current Practice: Ocular inflammatory manifestations are reported in children during or after symptomatic or asymptomatic COVID-19 infection and may go unrecognized. Guidelines for managing children with NIU on immunosuppressive treatment (IMT) continues to evolve, and updated information is needed. Best Practice: Knowledge of ocular manifestations of acute and post-infectious COVID-19 including Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) will improve clinical care of children. Patients may present with conjunctivitis, optic neuritis, transient myasthenia-like syndrome, acute anterior uveitis, keratitis, pan-uveitis and papilledema. Ophthalmic management often involves systemic work-up and coordination of care amongst a multidisciplinary team. Consensus guidelines for monitoring uveitis and preventing COVID-19 infection in children with NIU on IMT may be applied to clinical practice. Expected Outcomes: Clinicians will develop an understanding of (1) Ophthalmic manifestations of acute and post-infectious COVID-19 infection and MIS-C (2) Challenges and strategies to manage NIU during a pandemic (3) Updates on infection risk and vaccination strategies for children on IMT. Format: Didactic, case presentations, rheumatology, ophthalmology panel discussion with audience participation. Summary: COVID-19-related ocular manifestations such as conjunctivitis, uveitis, pan-uveitis and optic neuritis are rare but are important to recognize. Children with NIU on IMT represent a unique patient population balancing ophthalmic follow-up and control of ocular/systemic disease and preventing infection.Copyright © 2022

Challenges in management of microbial keratitis during COVID-19 pandemic related lockdown: a comparative analysis with pre pandemic data.

PURPOSE: To study the challenges of managing microbial keratitis(MK) during the COVID19 pandemic related lockdown and assess the outcomes of treatment at a tertiary cornea service. METHODS: Retrospective, non comparative study of electronic medical records of MK presenting to a network of four tertiary care cornea services. The medical history, presenting clinical features, microbiology work up and treatment outcomes were analyzed. The primary outcome measure was final outcome at last follow up. Secondary outcomes measures were non-compliance to treatment due to travel restrictions, therapeutic PKP not done due non availability of corneal tissues. Results- MK was noted in 330 eyes of 330 patients between April and May 2020. Of these 237(71.8%) were males. Median age was 45 years(IQR, 33-56). Low socioeconomic status noted in 102(30.9%). Patients travelling beyond the district from where the hospital was located comprised of 64.9%(n=214). At a median follow up of 32 days(IQR, 9-54), 118(35.8%) patients had resolved, with medical management, 73(22.1%) patients were under active treatment, 139(42.1%) were lost to follow up. Sixty-six patients(20%) were non-compliant to treatment of which 59 could not follow appointment schedule due to travel restrictions. Therapeutic PKP (TPK) was planned in 48/128 (37.5%) patients, but was performed in only 34/48 (70.8%) due to non-availability of donor corneas. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal social circumstances due to the COVID pandemic and the ensuing impediments to travel for access to health care affected compliance to treatment of ocular emergencies such as microbial keratitis.

PD13-08 Phase 1 TROPION-PanTumor01 Study Evaluating Datopotamab Deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) in Unresectable or Metastatic Hormone Receptor-Positive/HER2-Negative Breast Cancer (BC)

Background: Datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) consisting of a humanized anti-TROP2 IgG1 monoclonal antibody covalently linked to a highly potent topoisomerase I (Topo I) inhibitor payload via a stable, tumor-selective, tetrapeptide-based cleavable linker. Dato-DXd demonstrated compelling single-agent antitumor activity in heavily pretreated patients (pts) with metastatic triple-negative BC (Krop, SABCS 2021). This is the first report of results from the TROPION-PanTumor01 study in pts with unresectable or metastatic hormone receptor- positive (HR+)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-;including HER2-low and HER2-zero) BC. Method(s): TROPION-PanTumor01 (NCT03401385) is a phase 1, multicenter, open-label, 2-part doseescalation/expansion study evaluating Dato-DXd in previously treated pts with solid tumors. Based on previous clinical findings and exposure-response results from pts with NSCLC, Dato-DXd 6 mg/kg IV Q3W is being evaluated in pts with unresectable or metastatic HR+/HER2- BC that progressed on standard therapies. The primary objectives were safety and tolerability. Tumor responses, including ORR (complete response [CR] + partial response [PR]) and DCR (CR + PR + stable disease [SD]), were assessed per RECIST version 1.1 by blinded independent central review. Result(s): As of the April 29, 2022, data cutoff, 41 pts had received Dato-DXd (median follow-up, 10.9 mo [range, 7-13]);9 pts were ongoing. The primary cause of treatment discontinuation was disease progression (63% progressive disease [PD] or clinical progression). Median age was 57 y (range, 33- 75);54% had de novo metastatic disease. Pts were heavily pretreated (Table) with a median of 5 (range, 3-10) prior regimens in the advanced setting;95% had prior CDK4/6i (adjuvant/metastatic). Median time from initial treatment for metastatic disease to the first dose of Dato-DXd was 42.7 mo (range, 10.2-131.1). Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs;all cause) were observed in 98% (any grade) and 41% (grade >=3) of pts. Most common TEAEs (any grade, grade >=3) were stomatitis (80%, 10%), nausea (56%, 0%), fatigue (46%, 2%), and alopecia (37%, 0%). Serious TEAEs were observed in 6 pts (15%);1 pt died due to dyspnea, which was not considered to be treatment related. Dose reductions occurred in 5 pts due to stomatitis (n=3), fatigue (n=2), keratitis (n=1), and decreased appetite (n=1) (>1 AE per pt);14 pts had treatment delayed due to stomatitis (n=8), retinopathy (n=1), dysphagia (n=1), fatigue (n=1), malaise (n=1), COVID-19 (n=1), cellulitis (n=1), urinary tract infection (n=1), decreased lymphocyte count (n=1), and nasal congestion (n=1;>1 AE per pt). Three pts discontinued treatment due to keratitis (n=1) and pneumonitis (n=2);1 case of pneumonitis was adjudicated as grade 2 drug-related interstitial lung disease. The ORR was 29% (11 confirmed PRs;1 pending confirmation), the DCR was 85% (35/41), and the clinical benefit rate (CR + PR + SD >=6 mo) was 41% (17/41). Conclusion(s): Dato-DXd demonstrated a manageable safety profile and encouraging antitumor activity, with high disease control in heavily pretreated pts, the majority having received prior CDK4/6i. Based on these findings, the TROPION-Breast01 (NCT05104866) randomized phase 3 study comparing 2L+ Dato-DXd vs investigator's choice chemotherapy is currently enrolling pts with HR+/HER2- BC.

Betaine- and L-Carnitine-Based Ionic Liquids as Solubilising and Stabilising Agents for the Formulation of Antimicrobial Eye Drops Containing Diacerein.

The therapeutic efficacy of topically administered drugs, however powerful, is largely affected by their bioavailability and, thus, ultimately, on their aqueous solubility and stability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of ionic liquids (ILs) as functional excipients to solubilise, stabilise, and prolong the ocular residence time of diacerein (DIA) in eye drop formulations. DIA is a poorly soluble and unstable anthraquinone prodrug, rapidly hydrolysed to rhein (Rhe), for the treatment of osteoarthritis. DIA has recently been evaluated as an antimicrobial agent for bacterial keratitis. Two ILs based on natural zwitterionic compounds were investigated: L-carnitine C6 alkyl ester bromide (Carn6), and betaine C6 alkyl ester bromide (Bet6). The stabilising, solubilising, and mucoadhesive properties of ILs were investigated, as well as their cytotoxicity to the murine fibroblast BALB/3T3 clone A31 cell line. Two IL-DIA-based eye drop formulations were prepared, and their efficacy against both Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was determined. Finally, the eye drops were administered in vivo on New Zealand albino rabbits, testing their tolerability as well as their elimination and degradation kinetics. Both Bet6 and Carn6 have good potential as functional excipients, showing solubilising, stabilising, mucoadhesive, and antimicrobial properties; their in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo ocular tolerability pave the way for their future use in ophthalmic applications.

Patterns of sclero‐uveitis in a referral center in Tunisia, North Africa

Purpose: To describe the demographics and clinical characteristics of anterior scleritis associated with uveitis in a referral center in Tunisia.Methods: The charts of twenty patients (20 eyes) diagnosed with sclero‐uveitis at Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, Monastir, Tunisia, presented between January 2015 and April 2022, were retrospectively reviewed. Detailed ophthalmic examination and fundus photography were performed in all patients. Mean follow‐up period was 28.4 months. Patients with keratitis or posterior scleritis were excluded.Results: There were eight women and 12 males patients with a mean age of 34.8 years. All patients presented with ocular pain. Mean initial best‐corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/80 (range, 20/2000–20/25).There was an associated anterior uveitis in 80% of cases and panuveitis in 20%. Clinical findings at presentation included nodular scleritis in five eyes (25%) and scleromalacia perforans in four eyes (20%). Idiopathic sclero‐uveitis accounted for almost 55%. Identified causes of sclerouveitis included rheumatoid arthritis in four eyes (20%), tuberculosis in three eyes (15%), granulomatosis with polyangiitis in two eyes (10%), sarcoidosis in one eye (5%) and then one case after mRNA 1273 vaccine (5%). Ocular complications included pupillary seclusion in 25% of cases and vision loss in 10% of patients. Mean final BCVA was 20/100 (range, 20/4000–20/32). Treatment modalities of non‐infectious scleritis included indomethacine in 14 patients (82.3%), systemic corticosteroid in seven patients (41.1%) and immunosuppressant or biological agent in five patients (29.4%).Conclusions: Our results provide useful information about the patterns and etiologies of sclerouveitis. The leading causes of sclerouveitis include mainly rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis. An infectious cause should be always ruled out.

Microbiological Profile of Infectious Keratitis During Covid-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: The Covid-19 pandemic introduced significant changes in our daily life, including the widespread use of face masks. The purpose of this study was to assess if significant changes occurred in the microbiological profile of infectious keratitis. Patients and Methods: A retrospective study was performed, based on a survey review of the electronic medical records of all patients with presumed infectious keratitis, between March 2020 and October 2021. The microbiological isolates in this sample (pandemic group) were compared with those obtained in our center between 2009 and 2018 (pre-pandemic group). Results: A total of 194 samples were included in the pandemic group. We obtained a culture-positivity rate of 43.3%, which was significantly higher when compared with the pre-pandemic data (35.15%, p = 0.033). Several further significant differences were found between the pandemic and the pre-pandemic groups: the proportion of bacteria, including gram-positive and gram-negative groups, was higher in our sample (pre-pandemic vs pandemic: 76.78% vs 83.33%, p = 0.010; 53.35% vs 60.71%, p = 0.016; 23.43% vs 34.52%, p = 0.005, respectively); two populations of Gram-positive bacteria found in this study were not isolated in the pre-pandemic sample - Dolosigranulum pigrum and Propionibacterium spp.; and two bacterial isolates were significantly increased in our sample - Corynebacterium spp. (18.41% vs 29.76%, p = 0.003) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.00% vs 16.66%, p = 0.012). Conclusion: In conclusion, significant changes were found in the microbiological profile of infectious keratitis in our center during the Covid-19 pandemic. While these changes could be related to face mask use, more observational and experimental studies are needed to explore this possible association.

Class-Aware Attention Network for infectious keratitis diagnosis using corneal photographs.

Infectious keratitis is one of the common ophthalmic diseases and also one of the main blinding eye diseases in China, hence rapid and accurate diagnosis and treatment for infectious keratitis are urgent to prevent the progression of the disease and limit the degree of corneal injury. Unfortunately, the traditional manual diagnosis accuracy is usually unsatisfactory due to the indistinguishable visual features. In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end fully convolutional network, named Class-Aware Attention Network (CAA-Net), for automatically diagnosing infectious keratitis (normal, viral keratitis, fungal keratitis, and bacterial keratitis) using corneal photographs. In CAA-Net, a class-aware classification module is first trained to learn class-related discriminative features using separate branches for each class. Then, the learned class-aware discriminative features are fed into the main branch and fused with other feature maps using two attention strategies to assist the final multi-class classification performance. For the experiments, we have built a new corneal photograph dataset with 1886 images from 519 patients and conducted comprehensive experiments to verify the effectiveness of our proposed method. The code is available at https://github.com/SWF-hao/CAA-Net_Pytorch.

Corneal Adverse Events Associated with SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Vaccination: A Systematic Review.

Vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have played an important global role in reducing morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 infection. While the benefits of vaccination greatly outweigh the risks, adverse events do occur. Non-ocular adverse effects of the vaccines have been well-documented, but descriptions of ophthalmic effects remain limited. This systematic review aims to provide an overview of reported cases of corneal adverse events after receiving vaccination against COVID-19 and to compile existing clinical data to bring attention to these phenomena. Our review discusses corneal graft rejection, including proposed mechanisms, herpetic keratitis, and other reported corneal complications. Ophthalmologists and primary care physicians should be aware of such possible associations.

Peripheral Ulcerative Keratitis in a Young Lady with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Post Rituximab Infusion-A Case Report.

AIM: We report a new ocular finding of episcleritis (OD) and peripheral ulcerative keratitis (OS) in a 40-year-old lady with a 13-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 3 weeks post-rituximab infusion. MATERIALS & METHODS: Retrospective case report. RESULTS: A 40-year-old lady with a history of SLE and 3 weeks post rituximab infusion developed a new onset episcleritis (OD) and peripheral ulcerative keratitis (OS). As the PUK continued to advance with a leading edge, intravenous methyl prednisolone 1 gm/day was given for 3 days followed by a slow tapering course of oral prednisolone 50 mg/day. Though her ocular inflammation resolved, she developed pneumonia 6 weeks later. At 10 months follow-up, there were no ocular recurrences. She is currently on mycophenolate mofetil 2 gm/day along with oral prednisolone of 10 mg/day. CONCLUSION: This case highlights the new occurrence of episcleritis and PUK in SLE post-rituximab infusion.

Bilateral Conjunctivitis, Keratitis, and Anterior Uveitis in a Patient Co-infected with Parvovirus B19 and SARS-CoV-2.

Parvovirus B-19 (B19V) is a common infection in children, occasionally complicated by ocular manifestations. In patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS-CoV-2), many cases of bacterial, fungal, and viral co-infections have been described. We report on a case of bilateral conjunctivitis, keratitis, and anterior uveitis that occurred in a patient co-infected by B19V and SARS-CoV-2. A young nurse developed, 20 days after the onset of asthenia and fever, a maculopapular rash and, in the following month, B19V-related arthritis. Shortly after a course of antibiotics and corticosteroids and the resolution of the arthritis, she began to complain of hearing loss and tinnitus. A polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2, previously negative, turned out positive; IgM for B19V decreased while IgG increased and antinuclear autoantibody and rheumatoid factor test results were positive. Ear symptoms disappeared after a course of prednisone, but eye burning and itching appeared 2 weeks after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive swab. Bilateral conjunctivitis, keratitis, and anterior uveitis were diagnosed, which responded completely to a topical corticosteroid and mydriatic therapy. No relapses were observed in the following 12 months. The onset and progression of the symptoms, along with the laboratory findings, suggest a double pathogenesis of the ocular manifestations: keratitis and uveitis, along with the ear symptoms, seem to be the expression of an autoimmune reaction to B19V infection, while the conjunctivitis was likely related to direct infection of the conjunctiva by SARS-CoV-2.

Reports of New and Recurrent Keratitis following mRNA-based COVID-19 Vaccination.

PURPOSE: As ophthalmic side effects of messenger RNA (mRNA)-based COVID-19 vaccination are not well understood, it is crucial to document and report such instances should they occur. METHODS: In this observational case series, we report nine patients (55.6% male, mean age 58.9) who received either the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna) COVID-19 vaccinations from January to June of 2021, and presented with symptoms of keratitis within 14 days. All patients underwent slit-lamp examination and histories were taken. RESULTS: Most subjects (66.7%) had a history of corneal inflammatory diseases and resolved under antiviral and/or steroidal treatment. Patients who reported symptoms after their second vaccine dose presented earlier than those who reported symptoms after the first dose (mean 4.4 days vs 10.5 days, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The immunological reaction following mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccinations may trigger new-onset or reactivation of keratitis, though causality cannot be proven. Despite its rarity, clinicians should be aware of this possible complication and be prepared to treat.