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Case Reports
. 2021 Dec 15;21(1):434.
doi: 10.1186/s12886-021-02201-0.

Spiroplasma species as a rare cause of congenital cataract and uveitis: a case series

Navid Farassat  1 , Michael Reich  2 , Annerose Serr  3 , Sebastian Küchlin  2 , Marwa Erwemi  4 , Claudia Auw-Hädrich  2 , Hermann Krastel  4 , Wolf Alexander Lagrèze  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Spiroplasma species as a rare cause of congenital cataract and uveitis: a case series

Navid Farassat et al. BMC Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Background: To date, only four cases of ocular spiroplasma infection have been reported in the entire ophthalmic literature. We add two more cases to raise awareness of this sight-threatening congenital disease that manifests as cataract with ocular inflammation.

Case presentation: Both infants were referred for cataracts associated with ocular inflammation. Case 1, a 3-week-old neonate presented with unilateral cataract, ocular inflammation and elevated intraocular pressure. Case 2 was a 3-month-old infant with bilateral cataract and panuveitis. Lensectomies with or without vitrectomy and subsequent analyses of the specimens were performed. Transmission electron microscopy and multiplex polymerase chain reaction or 16 s rRNA gene polymerase chain reaction revealed spiroplasma species.

Conclusions: Spiroplasma as a very rare cause for congenital cataract might be underdiagnosed. We recommend performing polymerase chain reaction to probe for spiroplasma species in congenital cataracts with an inflammatory component.

Keywords: Congenital cataract; Spiroplasma ixodetis; Uveitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Case 1. A, B Anterior segment OD of patient 1 showing a diffusely opacified lens and a hyperemic iris with straight and prominent vessels extending onto the lens. C, D Transmission electron microscopy images of crystalline lens material revealing multiple intracellular, rod-shaped, filamentous and round-shaped microorganisms (red arrowheads), scale bar = 1 μm
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Case 2. A Anterior segment OD of patient 2 showing a diffuse cataract and corneal precipitates. B Intraoperative funduscopic image OD revealing vitreous infiltration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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