Pythium insidiosumkeratitis confirmed by DNA sequence analysis

• Published in: British journal of ophthalmology Vol. 85; no. 4; p. 496
• Main Authors: BADENOCH, PAUL R, COSTER, DOUGLAS J, WETHERALL, BRUCE L, BRETTIG, HELEN T, ROZENBILDS, MICHAEL A, DRENTH, ANDRÉ, WAGELS, GABRIELE
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JR BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.04.2001; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Biopsy; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diabetes; DNA; Family medical history; Laboratories
• ISSN: 0007-1161; 1468-2079
• DOI: 10.1136/bjo.85.4.496g

Other characteristics consistent with this identification were colony morphology, optimal temperature of growth (35°C), hyphal diameter (4-6 mm), intercalary swellings in viable hyphae, vesicles at the end of spore discharge tubes, and spores germinating by means of germ tubes. 3 To confirm the identification, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region defined by primers TW81 and AB28 (incorporating ITS1, the 5.8S gene and ITS2) was amplified. A number of cases of human pythiosis have been reported, mostly subcutaneous infections and arteritis in thalassaemic patients in farming communities of South East Asia. 6 With respect to the eye, P insidiosum has been responsible for periorbital infections in Australia 7 and the USA 8 and corneal ulcers in Thailand, 6 Haiti, 9 and New Zealand. 10 Some patients have had no other medical history.