A pseudoepidemic of postoperative scleritis due to misdiagnosis.
OBJECTIVE
To describe a pseudoepidemic of infectious scleritis following eye surgery.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort study with selected procedural and laboratory investigations.


RESULTS
Twenty-one patients with postoperative scleritis were identified during a 2-month outbreak. Neither an infectious etiology nor a causative pre-, intra-, or postoperative exposure was found. The clinical findings, when carefully reviewed, were consistent with poor surgical-wound closure.


CONCLUSIONS
The art of clinical diagnosis involves the subjective interpretation of clinical history, physical findings, and laboratory results. A repeated error in the interpretation of clinical findings can simulate an outbreak of disease. Clinicians may be reluctant to concede misdiagnosis.
Burwen
D R
DR
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Service, US Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Margo
C E
CE
McNeil
M M
MM
Brown
J M
JM
Tapelband
G
G
Jenkins
R B
RB
Jarvis
W R
WR
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015423:Scleritis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000175:diagnosis*