title: Herpes simplex dendritic keratitis after keratoplasty.
abstract: We treated three patients with herpes simplex dendritic keratitis that occurred between three and 11 months after keratoplasty. The patients had no history of herpetic infection. The eyes of two of the patients were grafted for corneal scarring of undetermined origin. The eye of the third patient was grafted for pseudophakic bullous keratopathy. At the time of onset of dendritic keratitis, all three patients were receiving either maintenance or higher doses of topical corticosteroids. All infections responded to topical antiviral treatment. The findings in these patients illustrate the importance of considering herpes simplex keratitis in the differential diagnosis of all late-onset epithelial defects in the corneal graft, even in the absence of a history of herpes simplex keratitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, Davis, Sacramento 95816.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mannis
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Plotnik
authors.forename: I R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Newton
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000368:Aged; D003315:Cornea / Q000382:microbiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007635:Keratitis, Dendritic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014271:Trifluridine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014792:Visual Acuity
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D014271:Trifluridine