Treatment of Metarhizium fungal keratitis in the United Kingdom

Utilizing confocal microscopy and topical natamycin in metarhizium keratitis of Caribbean origin

A 32-year-old contact lens-wearing man with recent travel history to the Caribbean was referred for a corneal infiltrate in the left eye that worsened following 1-week of steroid-antibiotic therapy. Corneal cultures were obtained and sent to our facility's clinical microbiology laboratory for analysis. Same-day in vivo confocal microscopy revealed fungal elements. Nucleic acid sequencing performed on the isolated determined it to be a member of the entomopathogenic genus Metarhizium. Over the course of 3 months, the patient's corneal infiltrate ultimately resolved following topical natamycin 5 % therapy. This is the first reported case to have originated in the Caribbean and to utilize in vivo confocal microscopy to aid diagnosis. Our case also supports previous reports of success with natamycin therapy in treatment of Metarhizium sp. keratitis.