European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A REVIEW ON ADVANCED TREATMENT TECHNIQUES FOR FUNGAL KERATITIS

Srikrishna T., Y. Prapurnachandra, P. Venugopalaih, Syed Shahistha*, V. Umadevi, P. Ramya and C. Jhansi Rani

ABSTRACT

Fungal keratitis or fungal corneal ulcer is potentially binding infection of cornea, is considered one of the major cause of ocular morbidity, particularly in developing countries. Infectious keratitis is frequently caused by it, particularly in tropical and subtropical nations. Mycotic or fungal keratitis, as well as keratomycosis, are fungus-related infections of the cornea that manifest as purulent, typically ulcerative, lesions. Because of its propensity to mimic other forms of stromal inflammation and because its care is limited by the availability of potent antifungal drugs and their capacity to enter corneal tissue, this type of corneal infection presents a challenge to the ophthalmologist. Fungal keratitis is renowned for being hard to diagnose and treat. Reports of mycotic keratitis have been received from all over the world, but especially from tropical regions where it may be responsible for over half of all cases of microbial keratitis and ocular mycoses. There are two primary kinds that are known to exist: keratitis caused by yeast-like and related fungus (specifically Candida) and those caused by filamentous fungi (mostly Fusarium and Aspergillus), which are widespread in tropical and subtropical zones. Fungal infections in the cornea can have irreversible aftereffects if treatment is postponed. Treatment results for fungal keratitis are frequently worse than those for bacterial keratitis. The main causes of the poor result are inadequate antifungal medications and delayed diagnosis. Significant progress in treatment has been made in the last few years. The pathophysiology, clinical characteristics, therapy, and epidemiology of fungal keratitis are reviewed in this topic.

Keywords: Infectious keratitis, fungal keratitis, Aspergillus, antifungal medications and keratoplasty.