Korean J Ophthalmol.  1998 Dec;12(2):112-107. 10.3341/kjo.1998.12.2.112.

In vivo tandem scanning confocal microscopy in acanthamoeba keratitis

• Cho BJ
• Holland EJ

• KMID: 1043973
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/kjo.1998.12.2.112

Abstract

The in vivo confocal microscopy technique provides us with a real-time, non-invasive way of examining the human cornea. The most important advantage of this type of microscopy is to reveal the etiologic agents in infectious keratitis such as Acanthamoeba keratitis. We present several representative cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis, which were diagnosed in their early stages using in vivo confocal microscopy and managed based on that diagnosis. In our Acanthamoeba keratitis cases, highly-reflective round or ovoid organisms with a diameter of about 10-25 um were visualized distinctly against relatively-dark normal parenchymal structures, such as epithelial cells or keratocyte nuclei. Double-walled structures of Acanthamoeba cysts were clearly demonstrated in some cases. We can confirm that in vivo tandem scanning confocal microscopy is a powerful diagnostic tool for identifying the infecting organisms in Acanthamoeba keratitis.

MeSH Terms

Acanthamoeba/ultrastructure
Acanthamoeba Keratitis/pathology*
Adolescence
Adult
Animal
Comparative Study
Cornea/pathology*
Cornea/parasitology
Diagnosis, Differential
Female
Human
Male
Microscopy, Confocal
Middle Age