Anti-tuberculous therapy combined with systemic corticosteroids improves retinal sensitivity in patients with active presumed tuberculous choroiditis

The Historical Evolution of Ocular Tuberculosis: Past, Present, and Future

Ocular involvement is a rare manifestation of tuberculosis. Four key issues historically faced by clinicians when diagnosing and treating ocular tuberculosis - diagnostic uncertainty, naturally heterogeneous presentations, limitations of existing laboratory diagnostic tools, and non-uniform treatment guidelines - continue to test today's physicians. Unparalleled scientific and clinical developments over the past century have greatly expanded the knowledge surrounding this challenging ophthalmic condition. Experience with large volumes of cases at tuberculosis-endemic centres has led to recent growth in knowledge and physician experience, perhaps more so in developing countries. Looking forward, the role of diverse new technologies, including artificial intelligence and proteomics, will advance ocular tuberculosis research. Efforts have been made to address the lack of standardized nomenclature, diagnostic uncertainty, and unvalidated, geographically variable treatment guidelines.

Bilateral Presumed Tuberculous Choroiditis

Purpose:

To describe a case of bilateral presumed tuberculous choroiditis which resolved promptly with a short course of antituberculous therapy.

Case Report:

A 44-year-old lady presented with bilateral visual loss of 8 months’duration. Considering the presence of pan-uveitis, severe macular edema, multifocal leakage on fluorescein angiography, positive tuberculin skin test, and after excluding other diseases, she underwent anti-tuberculous therapy (ATT) for disseminated choroiditis due to presumed ocular tuberculosis. She improved promptly and completely. There were no signs of relapse 18 months after completion of the treatment course. In a young patient with disseminated choroiditis and relatively short duration of symptoms, a course of ATT for 6 months may effectively treat the disease preventing relapse for a considerable period of time.

Conclusion:

In Presumed Tuberculous chroiditis early diagnosis is crucial for prompt and complete improvement.

Good visual outcome of tuberculous chorioretinitis after ART initiation in a HIV-infected patient

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is an important cause of sight-threatening chorioretinitis in HIV-infected individuals living in M. tuberculosis endemic areas. We present a case of tuberculous chorioretinitis in a HIV-infected man after recent initiation of antiretroviral therapy in rural South Africa, who had nearly complete resolution of clinical signs and symptoms after standard tuberculosis treatment. His presentation was most likely associated with immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.

Uveitis with occult choroiditis due to Mycobacterium kansasii: limitations of interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) tests (case report and mini-review on ocular non-tuberculous mycobacteria and IGRA cross-reactivity)

Ocular tuberculosis is difficult to diagnose but should be suspected when uveitis fails to respond to inflammation suppressive therapy. Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) represent a substantial help to diagnose suspected ocular tuberculosis especially in non-endemic areas. Indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) is able to detect clinically silent choroiditis that, when associated with a positive IGRA test, should lead the clinician to suspect ocular tuberculosis, warranting specific therapy. The fact that IGRA tests can also react with some atypical strains of mycobacteria is not always known. We report here a case with resistant post-operative inflammation that presented with occult ICGA-detected choroiditis and a positive IGRA test that was most probably due to the non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) Mycobacterium kansasii. A 66 year-old man presented with a resistant cystoid macular oedema (CMO) in his left eye after combined cataract and epiretinal membrane surgery. At entry, his best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.5 for far and near OS. Intraocular inflammation measured by laser flare photometry was elevated in the left eye (54.4 ph/ms) and also in the right eye (50.9 ph/ms). Four subTenon's injections of 40 mg of triamcinolone did not produce any substantial improvement. Therefore a complete uveitis work-up was performed. Fluorescein angiography showed CMO OS and ICGA showed numerous hypofluorescent dots and fuzziness of choroidal vessels in both eyes. Among performed laboratory tests, the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold test was positive. After a pulmonological examination disclosing a right upper lobe infiltrate, the patient was started on a triple anti-tuberculous therapy. Bronchial aspirate, obtained during bronchoscopy, was Ziehl-positive and culture grew M. kansasii. Nine months later, BCVA OS increased to 1.0 and flare decreased to 40.2 ph/ms. The CMO OS resolved angiographically and did not recur with a macula still slightly thickened on OCT. Suspected ocular tuberculosis based on clinical findings and a positive IGRA test can, in rare instances, be due to atypical mycobacteria that also produce positive IGRA tests such as M. kansasii, M. szulgai, M. gordonae, M. flavescens and M. marinum. In our case failure to isolate the atypical mycobacterium would not have had negative therapeutic consequences, as M. kansasii is sensitive to the standard anti-tuberculous treatments, which is not the case with other NTMs.

Retinal functional changes measured by microperimetry after immunosuppressive therapy in patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease

Purpose

To evaluate the effect of immunosuppressive therapy on best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fixation stability, and central retinal sensitivity in patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease in the acute uveitic phase.

Methods

In this prospective study, 14 patients (28 eyes) were evaluated. Best-corrected visual acuity and MP-1 microperimetric evaluation of retinal sensitivity in the central 12 degrees and fixation stability were assessed at baseline and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after treatment.

Results

At baseline, logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) BCVA, fixation stability, and mean retinal sensitivity levels were 0.685±0.6 (Snellen equivalent, 20/100), 61.2%±29.0%, and 2.75±3.8 dB, respectively. At 3 months, logMAR BCVA (0.11±0.2, Snellen equivalent 20/25) and fixation stability (86.4%±13.4%) were almost maximum (p<0.001 for both comparisons), and thereafter remained almost unchanged. Mean retinal sensitivity continued to improve up to 12 months (12.0±2.3 dB, p<0.001); however, it was still significantly decreased. There were significant correlations between logMAR BCVA and mean retinal sensitivity at all time points. The percentages of BCVA improvement were significantly higher than the percentages of mean retinal sensitivity improvement at all time points (p<0.001 for all comparisons).

Conclusions

Compared with microperimetry, BCVA significantly underestimates macular dysfunction in VKH disease.