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Repeated swabbing resolves corneal epithelial microsporidial lesions
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Corneal epithelial microsporidial lesions were effectively eradicated in approximately 1 week with repeated swabbing, a study found.
The retrospective, noncomparative case series examined 16 eyes of 14 patients diagnosed with microsporidial keratoconjunctivitis. Some lesions were scraped for procurement of specimens, while others were wiped gently with cotton swabs. Repeated swabbing was performed in cases of persistent infection or development of new lesions.
Patients were treated with 0.3% norfloxacin or 0.25 % chloramphenicol to prevent secondary bacterial infection.
After gentle swabbing, dense white lesions were easily removed and most of the epithelium remained intact. Swabbing was performed a mean of 3.3 times with a mean disease resolution time of 6.6 days. No patients demonstrated infection recurrence or loss of visual acuity at follow-up.
Repeated swabbing may be simple for physicians to perform and more acceptable to patients because it is less painful and yields improvement of vision on a daily basis, the study authors said.
The study was limited by the small sample size and lack of a control group, the authors noted.
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