Exogenous Fungal Endophthalmitis: Clues to Aspergillus Aetiology with a Pharmacological Perspective

FUNGAL ENDOPHTHALMITIS MASQUERADING AS SYMPATHETIC OPHTHALMIA

PURPOSE

To describe the ocular pathology of a patient with fungal endophthalmitis with features mimicking sympathetic ophthalmia.

METHODS

Review of medical records and histopathology of a single patient.

RESULTS

A 72-year-old man who sustained penetrating injury to the left eye with an agave plant presented to our clinic 16 months after the initial injury. Before presentation, the patient had developed endophthalmitis and had undergone anterior chamber washout, vitrectomy, and intravitreal steroids, antibiotics, antifungals, and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy. At presentation, the patient had a blind, painful eye and subsequently underwent enucleation. Histopathology demonstrated granulomatous inflammation with multinucleated giant cells in the iris and Dalen-Fuchs nodules with CD68-positive epithelioid histiocytes associated with the retinal pigment epithelium sparing the choriocapillaris. These findings were initially attributed to sympathetic ophthalmia. The fellow eye did not have any signs of inflammation, and Grocott methenamine silver stain was positive for filamentous fungal elements, leading to a diagnosis of fungal endophthalmitis.

CONCLUSIONS

Fungal endophthalmitis may develop histopathologic features that are similar to those observed in sympathetic ophthalmia. Recognition of the overlap between the histopathologic features of these diseases may reduce the possibility of misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment of the fellow eye.

Fusarium Keratitis on the Rise - a Clinical Review

Fungal keratitis due to Fusarium species is a rare but serious ocular disease. Due to its rapid progression, often late diagnostic confirmation as well as limited topical treatment options, this is potentially sight threatening. Increasing contact lens use and global climate change have been suggested to be factors leading to an increase in cases of fusarium keratitis, even in regions with moderate climate. Early recognition and initiation of antimycotic treatment, as well as early surgical treatment by penetrating keratoplasty are decisive for the outcome.

Fungal Endophthalmitis: Clinical Characteristics, Pathogens, and Factors Affecting Visual Outcome

AIMS

The aims of this study are to investigate the etiology, microbiological spectrum, and risk factors associated with visual outcomes of fungal endophthalmitis (FE) in a tertiary eye specialty hospital in Shanghai, China.

METHODS

This was a retrospective, single-center case series. The clinical characteristics, etiology, microbiological spectrum, and management, as well as the visual outcomes, were analyzed. Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors related to visual outcomes.

RESULTS

This study involved 102 eyes of 92 patients with FE, including 63 males (66.3%). The mean age was 44.4 ± 19.8 years. The most common etiology of FE was trauma (56.5%). The predominant fungal species isolated were Aspergillus spp. (31/93, 33.3%). Pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and intravitreal antifungal agents was performed initially in 86 (84.3%) and 83 (81.4%) eyes, respectively. Only 35 (34.3%) eyes achieved final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/400 or better. Ten (9.8%) eyes had a final BCVA of light perception or worse, and five (4.9%) had to be enucleated. The factors determining better visual outcomes included initial visual acuity better than finger-counting (FC) (odds ratio (OR) 5.811, p = 0.036), the absence of corneal infiltrate (OR 10.131, p = 0.002), and Candida species infection (OR 6.325, p = 0.011).

CONCLUSIONS

Early diagnosis of FE and a timely vitrectomy, combined with an intravitreal injection of an antifungal drug, can mitigate the devastating results of intraocular fungal infection. Not being infected by Aspergillus spp., an initial BCVA that was no worse than FC, and the absence of corneal involvement were related to better visual prognosis.

Postoperative Aspergillus Endophthalmitis With Iris Granuloma: A Case Report

This report describes a rare case of a fungal iris granulomatous lesion in a 67-year-old female who underwent cataract surgery in the left eye and, one month later, developed culture-positive postoperative Aspergillus endophthalmitis. On initial presentation in the emergency room, slit-lamp examination of the left eye revealed subconjunctival hemorrhage, 360-degree subconjunctival hemorrhage, mild corneal edema with Descemet's folds, a deep anterior chamber with a fibrinous reaction causing pupillary membrane formation, and an in situ intraocular lens with no view of the fundus. A bright-scan (B-scan) ultrasound revealed mild vitreous opacities with a vitreal membrane, shallow choroidal detachment, and no significant retinal and choroid layer thickening. The patient was admitted into the anterior segment division for anterior chamber (AC) tap culture and AC washout for suspected retained cortical matter removal, intracameral antibiotics (vancomycin and ceftazidime), and IOL explantation in the left eye. The initial aqueous tap culture had no growth. Nine days later, repeat aqueous tap and pupillary membrane cultures were positive for Aspergillus spp. Intravitreal voriconazole was administered along with topical natamycin and amphotericin B eye drops. There was a resolution of the clinical picture, and three weeks later a rebound occurred, for which AC washout, pars plana vitrectomy (PPV), capsulectomy, and intravitreal vancomycin, ceftazidime, and voriconazole were given. A week later, the patient developed a fungal granuloma behind the iris, which was successfully managed with an AC washout, removal of the granuloma, and repeated intravitreal and intracameral voriconazole administration. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) during the last visit was 20/80 in the affected eye, with a plan for a secondary IOL implant. Endophthalmitis is a rare but serious intraocular infection, with fungal endophthalmitis having a lower prevalence than bacterial endophthalmitis, which explains the lack of well-established guidelines for diagnosing and managing exogenous fungal endophthalmitis. This case highlights the rare presentation of post-cataract Aspergillus endophthalmitis with a fungal iris granuloma and demonstrates how the chronicity of this infection, along with surgical manipulation, may accelerate the seeding of these organisms into the anterior chamber structures.

Candida Biofilm Eye Infection: Main Aspects and Advance in Novel Agents as Potential Source of Treatment

Fungi represent a very important cause of microbial eye infections, especially in tropical and developing countries, as they could cause sight-threating disease, such as keratitis and ocular candidiasis, resulting in irreversible vision loss. Candida species are among the most frequent microorganisms associated with fungal infection. Although Candida albicans is still the most frequently detected organism among Candida subspecies, an important increase in non-albicans species has been reported. Mycotic infections often represent an important diagnostic-clinical problem due to the difficulties in performing the diagnosis and a therapeutic problem due to the limited availability of commercial drugs and the difficult penetration of antifungals into ocular tissues. The ability to form biofilms is another feature that makes Candida a dangerous pathogen. In this review, a summary of the state-of-the-art panorama about candida ocular pathology, diagnosis, and treatment has been conducted. Moreover, we also focused on new prospective natural compounds, including nanoparticles, micelles, and nanocarriers, as promising drug delivery systems to better cure ocular fungal and biofilm-related infections. The effect of the drug combination has also been examined from the perspective of increasing efficacy and improving the course of infections caused by Candida which are difficult to fight.

Eye fungal infections: a mini review

Ocular fungal infections annually affect more than one million individuals worldwide. The management of these infections is problematic, mainly due to the limited availability of effective antifungal agents. Thus, ocular infections are increasingly recognized as important causes of morbidity and blindness, especially keratitis and endophthalmitis. Thus, this review aims to demonstrate the importance of fungal eye infections through the description of the main related aspects, with emphasis on the treatment of these infections. For this purpose, a search for scientific articles was conducted in databases, such as Medline, published from 2000 onwards, addressing important aspects involving fungal eye infections. In addition, this work highlighted the limited therapeutic arsenal available and the severity associated with these infections. Thus, highlighting the importance of constantly updating knowledge about these pathologies, as it contributes to agility in choosing the available and most appropriate therapeutic alternatives, aiming at positive and minimally harmful results for that particular patient.

[Fusarium Keratitis-an upcoming threat in Germany?]

BACKGROUND

Fungal keratitis due to Fusarium species is known to be typical of developing countries; however, with the increasing use of contact lenses a rise of Fusarium keratitis has been observed in Germany.

METHODS

In a monocentric retrospective study, we analyzed all patients who presented to our university eye hospital with infectious keratitis between January 2011 and December 2021 and had a proof of Fusarium species in either microscopy, culture or PCR.

RESULTS

We could identify 13 patients with a proof of Fusarium species. A significant increase of cases in 2021 was observed. In 76.9% of our cases the patients were female and in 76.9% the patients had a history of prior contact lens use. In only 4 cases the initial corneal sample gave a positive result for Fusarium. On average the suspicion of fungal keratitis arose 13.1 days after onset of symptoms, correct diagnosis was achieved after 14.6 days. All isolated specimens showed resistance against at least one of the common fungicides. In 70% of our cases treatment with penetrating keratoplasty was necessary. The patients showed a 57.1% recurrence rate after penetrating keratoplasty. In 80% of our cases best documented visual acuity after Fusarium keratitis was ≤ 0.4.

CONCLUSION

Due to difficult detection and a high resistance rate to common antifungals, Fusarium keratitis is prone to delayed diagnosis and limited treatment outcomes. Whenever risk factors are present and infectious keratitis does not respond to antibiotics, antimycotic treatment must be initiated. Early keratoplasty may be necessary.

Aspergillus Endophthalmitis: Epidemiology, Pathobiology, and Current Treatments

Fungal endophthalmitis is one of the leading causes of vision loss worldwide. Post-operative and traumatic injuries are major contributing factors resulting in ocular fungal infections in healthy and, more importantly, immunocompromised individuals. Among the fungal pathogens, the Aspergillus species, Aspergillus fumigatus, continues to be more prevalent in fungal endophthalmitis patients. However, due to overlapping clinical symptoms with other endophthalmitis etiology, fungal endophthalmitis pose a challenge in its diagnosis and treatment. Hence, it is critical to understand its pathobiology to develop and deploy proper therapeutic interventions for combating Aspergillus infections. This review highlights the different modes of Aspergillus transmission and the host immune response during endophthalmitis. Additionally, we discuss recent advancements in the diagnosis of fungal endophthalmitis. Finally, we comprehensively summarize various antifungal regimens and surgical options for the treatment of Aspergillus endophthalmitis.

The Diagnosis and Treatment of Fungal Endophthalmitis: An Update

In recent, large case series of fungal endophthalmitis (FE) that were published by Asian authors, the most frequent etiologic agents for all types of FE are molds (usually Aspergillus species, while Fusarium is the prevalent etiology in keratitis-related FE). Candida was the organism found in most cases of endogenous FE. However, we must keep in mind that prevalence of fungal species varies with the geographical area. Lately, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was increasingly used for the diagnosis of FE, allowing for very high diagnostic sensitivity, while the costs become more affordable with time. The most important shortcoming of PCR—the limited number of pathogens that can be simultaneously searched for—may be overcome by newer techniques, such as next-generation sequencing. There are even hopes of searching for genetic sequences that codify resistance to antifungals. We must not forget the potential of simpler tests (such as galactomannan and β-d-glucan) in orienting towards a diagnosis of FE. There are few reports about the use of newer antifungals in FE. Echinocandins have low penetration in the vitreous cavity, and may be of use in cases of fungal chorioretinitis (without vitritis), or injected intravitreally as an off-label, salvage therapy.