Study: Acquired infections cause ocular toxoplasmosis more often than congenital infections

Am J Ophthalmol. 2008;146(6):851-855.

Acquired infections were found to cause ocular toxoplasmosis more often than congenital infection, although cases of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis were more severe, a study found. Bilateral ocular toxoplasmosis was also more frequently seen in congenital infections.

In a retrospective, observational cases series, researchers studied the charts of consecutive patients who were diagnosed with ocular toxoplasmosis to determine the origin of the infection. Charts were dated between November 1994 and July 2005 and were gathered from a single institution. Data studied were serologic status before the ocular manifestations and maternal serologic status before, during and/or after pregnancy.

One hundred of 425 ocular toxoplasmosis cases (23.5%) were acquired, 62 (14.6%) were congenital and 263 (61.9%) could not be determined. Patients with congenital ocular toxoplasmosis had a mean age of 9.1 ± 8.8 years, and patients with acquired ocular toxoplasmosis had a mean age of 21.7 ± 12.6 years.

Because the study was performed in a referral center for uveitis, the severity of cases may have been greater than it would have been in a more comprehensive ophthalmology practice, the study authors said. Furthermore, they said that ascertaining the origin of infection in more of the cases of unknown origin could have changed the analyses.