Acanthamoebic keratitis diagnosed by paracentesis and biopsy and treated with propamidine

Abstract

A previously healthy 53-year-old man had keratitis of the right eye for six months, unresponsive to topical medical therapy. Acanthamoeba was grown from tissue obtained by corneal biopsy and from aqueous from an anterior chamber tap. The patient was treated with propamidine isethionate 0.1% drops and dibromopropamidine isethionate 0.15% ointment, and after two and a half months the ocular inflammation was continuing to resolve. This case supports a role for the diamidines in the treatment of acanthamoebic keratitis.