Corneal biopsy in the diagnosis of keratomycosis

Abstract

In two patients, a 55-year-old man and a 49-year-old man, who had fungal keratitis initially undiagnosed by corneal scrapings the condition was successfully diagnosed by corneal biopsy. We compared corneal biopsy specimens and corneal scraping in the diagnosis of keratomycosis in rabbits with experimental bilateral fungal keratitis caused by Fusarium solani, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Candida albicans. Corneal scrapings disclosed three specimens (30%) positive for Candida, five (50%) for Fusarium, and six (60%) for Aspergillus keratitis, whereas corneal biopsy specimens showed fungal elements of Fusarium, Aspergillus, and Candida in all inoculated eyes.