Glomerella cingulata endophthalmitis.

Purpose: To report a case of an exogenous endophthalmitis caused by the fungal species Glomerella cingulata. Observations: A 71-year-old male presented with an infectious keratitis that evolved into endophthalmitis. Combined cataract extraction and pars plana vitrectomy was performed and the vitreous specimen cultured Glomerella cingulata, a variant of the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides fungal species. Despite early treatment with topical, systemic and intravitreal doses of both voriconazole and amphotericin B, the patient had a poor visual and anatomical outcome. Conclusions and Importance: Glomerella cingulata may rarely cause endophthalmitis with devastating visual outcomes.

Cutaneous adverse effects of hormonal adjuvant therapy for breast cancer: a case of localised urticarial vasculitis following anastrozole therapy and a review of the literature.

Hormonal therapy with either tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors is commonly used to treat women with breast cancer in both the adjuvant and recurrent disease setting. Cutaneous adverse reactions to these drugs have been rarely reported in the literature. We report an unusual case of urticarial vasculitis following the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole that localised to the unilateral trunk and mastectomy scar, and review the literature on the cutaneous adverse effects of hormonal therapy for breast cancer.

Orbital involvement in systemic mastocytosis.

A 61-year-old female presented with a 3-day history of painful and reddened right eye with painful ocular movements. She had been diagnosed as having systemic mastocytosis 4 years earlier. Ocular examination showed Best Corrected Visual acuity of 6/6 right eye and 6/6 left eye. There was marked conjunctival injection and chemosis. The posterior segment was normal. The left eye was normal. Exophthalmometry showed 2 mm of right proptosis relative to the left eye. Computed tomography (CT) scans showed an ill-defined intra-conal lesion and enlargement of the lacrimal gland in the right orbit. A diagnostic biopsy was performed; the histopathology findings were of orbital mastocytosis. We present what our literature search suggests is the first biopsy-proven case of orbital mastocytosis.

Detecting human papillomavirus in ocular surface diseases.

PURPOSE: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been implicated as a possible inducing factor for benign and neoplastic ocular surface diseases such as pterygia and ocular-surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN). However, the wide range in HPV prevalence previously reported for both diseases adds controversy to, and highlights the limitations of, this field. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HPV in pterygia and OSSN and to devise a standardized approach for detecting viral DNA in ocular tissue samples. METHODS: DNA was extracted from a variety of specimens (n = 160), including formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue shavings, fresh tissue, and cultured cells. Nested PCR for HPV with consensus and subtype-specific primers was used to detect viral DNA. Confirmatory assays, including molecular sequencing, histology, and immunohistochemistry for HPV E6 protein and p16 were also performed. RESULTS: HPV was not detected in pterygia or normal conjunctiva. However, 6.5% (3/46) of OSSN samples were HPV-positive by PCR, sequencing, and immunohistochemistry. Positive cases were all squamous cell carcinoma of the conjunctiva (SCCC), the most severe form of OSSN, representing 12.5% (3/24) of SCCCs in our cohort. HPV-16 was the genotype identified in each case and this correlated with the presence of koilocytes and intense immunoreactivity for p16. Our study found no association between pterygia and OSSN with other oncogenic viruses, such as EBV or CMV, as they were just as prevalent in normal conjunctiva. CONCLUSIONS: The low prevalence of HPV-16 in ocular surface disease suggests infection is not a cause but a cofactor in disease development.

Recurrent lacrimal sac rhinosporidiosis involving the periocular subcutaneous tissues, nasolacrimal duct and nasopharynx.

Rhinosporidiosis is a chronic infection caused by the organism Rhinosporidium seeberi. It is endemic in parts of southern India and Sri Lanka, but rarely seen outside these areas. The infection predominantly affects the nasal mucosa; however, it can also affect the ocular surface and adnexa. We present a case of rhinosporidiosis initially involving the lacrimal sac, with recurrence in the periocular subcutaneous tissues, nasolacrimal duct and nasopharynx.

Orbital gastrointestinal stromal tumor metastasis.

PURPOSE: To report an uncommon case of orbital gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) metastasis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Observational case report. RESULTS: A 65-year-old woman with metastatic GIST involving the left orbit with a history of two separate GIST nodules involving the stomach 6 years earlier. Computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated a well-circumscribed enhancing lesion confined to the anterior orbit. Histopathology analysis of the tumor showed predominantly spindle cells with focal epithelioid forms. It also stained positive for c-KIT (CD117) on immunochemistry, confirming the diagnosis. Additional medical treatment was not required, and the patient was followed up regularly for disease recurrence. CONCLUSION: GISTs typically occur as sporadic solitary tumors. In malignant cases, it usually metastasizes to the liver or other intraabdominal sites. Orbital involvement is extremely rare. This is the first case of metastatic GIST involving the anterior orbit with histopathological and immunochemical confirmation.