Chronic vitritis with macrophagic inclusions. A sequela of treated endophthalmitis due to a coryneform bacterium.
A 75-year-old woman was treated successfully for endophthalmitis due to a coryneform bacterium contracted from a contaminated corneal graft. We were able to study the involved eye histologically when the patient died unexpectedly 5 1/2 weeks after treatment. The vitreous contained a moderate number of macrophages filled with PAS-positive particles. Ultrastructurally, the PAS-positive particles corresponded to degenerating bacterial cell walls. The striking resemblance of the macrophages in this case to macrophages in Whipple's disease is intriguing because Corynebacterium has been the most frequently implicated bacterial genus in the pathogenesis of Whipple's disease.
D000368:Aged; D016039:Corneal Transplantation; D003354:Corynebacterium Infections; D009877:Endophthalmitis / Q000601:surgery*; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006644:Histiocytes / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000473:pathology*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology*; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000473:pathology