title: Infectious keratitis caused by Aspergillus tubingensis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report 2 cases of keratomycosis caused by Aspergillus tubingensis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The therapeutic courses were recorded for 2 male patients, 52 and 78 years old, with fungal keratitis caused by black Aspergillus strains. Morphological examination of the isolates was carried out on malt extract agar plates. A segment of the beta-tubulin gene was used for molecular identification. Antifungal susceptibilities were determined by the E test method for molds and the broth microdilution technique National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards M38-A.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 52-year-old man presented with complaints of pain and redness in the right eye. The patient was successfully treated with natamycin and econazole eyedrops, itraconazole eye ointment, and oral ketoconazole. A 78-year-old man presented with total corneal necrosis in the right eye. A therapeutic keratoplasty was performed, and topical natamycin and econazole were applied. At the postoperative visit after 3 weeks, almost the full corneal graft was clear with formed anterior chamber. Black Aspergillus strains were isolated from the corneal scrapings of both cases and initially identified as Aspergillus niger based on culture characteristics. Sequence analysis of a segment of the beta-tubulin gene revealed that the isolates are representatives of A. tubingensis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Aspergillus tubingensis is closely related with A. niger, the differentiation of these 2 species is difficult by classical morphological criteria. To our knowledge, the presented cases of fungal keratitis are the first reports on ocular infection caused by A. tubingensis.
authors: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
authors: László
authors: L
authors: Kredics
authors: János
authors: J
authors: Varga
authors: Sándor
authors: S
authors: Kocsubé
authors: Revathi
authors: R
authors: Rajaraman
authors: Anita
authors: A
authors: Raghavan
authors: Ilona
authors: I
authors: Dóczi
authors: Madhavan
authors: M
authors: Bhaskar
authors: Tibor Mihály
authors: TM
authors: Németh
authors: Zsuzsanna
authors: Z
authors: Antal
authors: Narendran
authors: N
authors: Venkatapathy
authors: Csaba
authors: C
authors: Vágvölgyi
authors: Robert A
authors: RA
authors: Samson
authors: Manoharan
authors: M
authors: Chockaiya
authors: Manikandan
authors: M
authors: Palanisamy
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000368:Aged; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016039:Corneal Transplantation; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004464:Econazole / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007634:Keratitis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000601:surgery; D007654:Ketoconazole / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010866:Natamycin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D004464:Econazole; D010866:Natamycin; D007654:Ketoconazole