[Herpetic keratitis: clinical-virological correlation].
BACKGROUND
Herpetic keratitis is the main infectious cause of corneal opacity. The existence of effective antiviral agents underscores the need of an early diagnosis.


OBJECTIVE
To correlate clinical features of herpetic keratitis with virological studies.


METHODS
Forty one patients with a clinical diagnosis of herpetic keratitis were studied. Viral isolation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and typification were done in a sample taken by swabbing the ocular lesion.


RESULTS
Twenty six patients (31% female) had epithelial keratitis, that was mild or moderate in 88% of cases and acute in 77% of them. In 20 patients (77%), viral isolation and PCR were positive (HSV-2 in one case). Fifteen patients (67% female) had stromal keratitis, 93% of cases were moderate or severe and 53% were acute. Viral isolation was negative in all cases and in 20% PCR was positive.


CONCLUSIONS
Viral isolation and PCR were equally sensitive in epithelial keratitis, but in stromal keratitis only PCR could detect the virus. Moderate acute dendrite was the predominant clinical manifestation. The higher proportion of women with stromal keratitis supports its possibly autoimmune etiology. HSV-2 is seldomly isolated and possibly associated to vertical transmission.
Martínez
M J
MJ
Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile.
Vogel
M
M
Stoppel
J
J
Charlin
R
R
Squella
O
O
Srur
M
M
Traipe
L
L
Verdaguer
J
J
Suárez
M
M
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016849:Keratitis, Herpetic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
Queratitis herpética: correlación Clínico-virológica.