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Neisseria meningitidis keratitis in adults: a case series

C. S. Tan, P. Krishnan, F. Foo, J. C. Pan, L. Voon

Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 2006

9 citations

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this case series is to describe the clinical course of 2 patients with Neisseria meningitidis corneal ulcers.

CLINICAL PICTURE

A 49-year-old man (Patient 1) and a 22- year-old man (Patient 2) both experienced eye pain and were found to have corneal ulcers with surrounding infiltrate and ground-glass appearance. Gram-negative diplococci were seen in the first case. N. meningitidis was isolated in culture of corneal scrapings from both patients.

TREATMENT

Patient 1 was treated with levofloxacin (0.5%) and cefazolin (50 mg/mL) eye drops hourly and intravenous ceftriaxone and oral rifampicin. Patient 2 was treated with cefazolin (50 mg/mL) and gentamicin (14 mg/mL) eye drops hourly, as well as intravenous ceftriaxone.

OUTCOME

The corneal ulcers resolved with anterior stromal scarring and no impairment of vision.

CONCLUSIONS

Corneal ulcers caused by N. meningitidis may respond well to treatment without permanent visual sequelae. However, in view of the potential ocular and systemic complications, it is important to investigate and treat patients with N. meningitidis infection aggressively.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a case series, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.

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