Eye fungal infections: a mini review

Abstract

Ocular fungal infections annually affect more than one million individuals worldwide. The management of these infections is problematic, mainly due to the limited availability of effective antifungal agents. Thus, ocular infections are increasingly recognized as important causes of morbidity and blindness, especially keratitis and endophthalmitis. Thus, this review aims to demonstrate the importance of fungal eye infections through the description of the main related aspects, with emphasis on the treatment of these infections. For this purpose, a search for scientific articles was conducted in databases, such as Medline, published from 2000 onwards, addressing important aspects involving fungal eye infections. In addition, this work highlighted the limited therapeutic arsenal available and the severity associated with these infections. Thus, highlighting the importance of constantly updating knowledge about these pathologies, as it contributes to agility in choosing the available and most appropriate therapeutic alternatives, aiming at positive and minimally harmful results for that particular patient.

Keywords: Antifungal; Endophthalmitis; Eye fungal infection; Keratitis.

Fig. 1

Flowchart of the search methodology used to select the articles to compose the work

Fig. 2

Anatomy of the eyeball, highlighting the cornea and the cell layers that compose it

Fig. 3

Fungal inoculation by trauma and ways of using the main pharmacological treatments