Epidemic of unilateral panuveitis in children from Brazilian Amazonia: clinical and etiological aspects in seven patients.

Autor: Vasconcelos-Santos DV; Hospital São Geraldo/HC - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG, Rua Espírito Santo, 1634/102, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30.160-031, Brazil., Oréfice F, Fonseca CF, Alencar LM, Almeida PJ, Lenzi HL, Pelajo-Machado M, Volkmer-Ribeiro C, Batista TC, Chieffi PP, Lescano SZ, Caldeira RL, Carvalho Odos S, Pavesio CE
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: International ophthalmology [Int Ophthalmol] 2010 Apr; Vol. 30 (2), pp. 113-25. Date of Electronic Publication: 2009 Jan 23.
DOI: 10.1007/s10792-009-9294-y
Abstrakt: Objectives: To describe clinical presentation and results of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in seven children from an epidemic of panuveitis in the Brazilian Amazonia, as well as environmental analysis and etiological aspects involved.
Methods: Patients underwent full pediatric and ophthalmic examinations, B-scan, ultrasound biomicroscopy, and serological tests. Ocular samples were thoroughly analyzed, including two enucleation specimens. Environmental investigation encompassed water, soil, and river fauna.
Results: All patients had bathed in the waters of a regional river, the Araguaia. Six of them presented with intermediate uveitis, with snowbanking. Five had cataract and four showed inferior endothelial opacity, with localized anterior synechiae. One showed total leukoma, with flat anterior chamber. Only two had active uveitis, one of them with anterior chamber nodule. Serology revealed high prevalence of anti-Toxocara canis immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. In three cases, vitreous and lens samples disclosed spicules of freshwater sponges Drulia uruguayensis and D. ctenosclera, also detected in the waters of the river.
Conclusion: Freshwater sponge spicules could be potential new etiological agents of ocular pathology, but further studies are needed, considering the heterogeneity of the ocular lesions and results of serological and environmental studies.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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