A 52 year-old, contact lens-wearing man presented with progressive right eye pain and redness for one month. He had been evaluated and treated for necrotizing scleritis by multiple eye care specialists prior to presentation. He underwent a complete systemic work-up for both autoimmune and infectious causes of scleritis, including a culture. The culture revealed heavy growth of Nocardia asteroides complexes. The patient was treated with topical amikacin and oral Bactrim. Following several weeks of antibiotic treatment, the patient's infection resolved completely, and his visual acuity returned to baseline status. Nocardia is a rare but potentially devastating cause of necrotizing scleritis that may affect contact lens wearers without an associated keratitis. Prompt recognition and early treatment with appropriate antimicrobial agents are critical to achieve a favorable outcome.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Contact Lenses/*adverse effects/*microbiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nocardia Infections/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Nocardia asteroides/*isolation & purification ; Scleritis/drug therapy/*microbiology

Infectious scleritis by Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a well-known vision-threatening disease. In particular, scleral trauma following pterygium surgery may increase the risk of sclera inflammation. Surgical debridement and repair is necessary in patients who do not respond to medical treatments, such as topical and intravenous antibiotics. We reports herein the effectiveness of an autologous perichondrium conchal cartilage graft for infectious scleritis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This procedure was performed on four eyes of four patients with infectious scleritis who had previously undergone pterygium surgery at Gyeongsang National University Hospital (GNUH), Jinju, Korea from December 2011 to May 2012. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was identified in cultures of necrotic scleral lesion before surgery. The conchal cartilage perichondrium graft was transplanted, and a conjunctival flap was created on the scleral lesion. The autologous perichondrium conchal cartilage graft was successful and visual outcome was stable in all patients, with no reports of graft failure or infection recurrence. In conclusion, autologous perichondrium conchal cartilage graft may be effective in surgical management of Pseudomonal infectious scleritis when non-surgical medical treatment is ineffective. Further studies in larger, diverse populations are warranted to establish the effectiveness of the procedure.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Autografts ; Cartilage/surgery ; Communicable Diseases ; Debridement ; Eye Infections, Bacterial/etiology/*therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures ; Postoperative Complications ; Pseudomonas Infections/microbiology/*therapy ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa/*isolation & purification ; Pterygium/surgery ; Republic of Korea ; Sclera/*surgery/transplantation ; Scleritis/microbiology/*therapy ; Surgical Wound Infection/microbiology/*therapy ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Treatment Outcome

A 68-year-old woman presented with pain in her left eye. Necrosis with calcium plaques was observed on the medial part of the sclera. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from the culture of the necrotic area. On systemic work-up including serum and urine electrophoresis studies, the serum monoclonal protein of immunoglobulin G was detected. The patient was diagnosed with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and fungal scleritis. Despite intensive treatment with topical and oral antifungal agents, scleral inflammation and ulceration progressed, and scleral perforation and endophthalmitis developed. Debridement, antifungal irrigation, and tectonic scleral grafting were performed. The patient underwent a combined pars plana vitrectomy with an intravitreal injection of an antifungal agent. However, scleral and intraocular inflammation progressed, and the eye was enucleated. Aspergillus fumigatus was isolated from the cultures of the eviscerated materials. Giemsa staining of the excised sclera showed numerous fungal hyphae.
Aged ; Amphotericin B/administration & dosage ; Antifungal Agents/administration & dosage ; *Aspergillosis/therapy ; *Aspergillus fumigatus ; Disease Progression ; Eye Enucleation ; Female ; Humans ; Injections, Intraocular ; Paraproteinemias/*complications ; Sclera/pathology/ultrasonography ; Scleritis/*complications/diagnosis/*microbiology/physiopathology ; Vitrectomy