Centenary of the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences
Herpetic ulcer of the eyelids in an immunocompromised patient
Nagib Du Toit, Junet Van der Merwe
Abstract
A 24-year-old black female (HIV-positive) was referred to our clinic with a 4-week history of an ulcerative lesion of the right upper and lower eyelids. She was on treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis and had been admitted to a secondary level hospital. She had no other ocular symptoms or signs. A tissue biopsy of the lesion revealed multinucleate squamous cells with ground glass viral nuclear inclusion bodies, indicative of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. The ulcer healed with oral and topical acyclovir therapy, confirming a herpetic origin. There is only one other reported case of this type of ulcerative eyelid lesion caused by HSV; the patient in this case was also immunocompromised.
Authors' affiliations
Nagib Du Toit, ivision of Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town.
Junet Van der Merwe, ivision of Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, Groote Schuur Hospital and University of Cape Town.
Keywords
Eyelid ulcer Immuno-compromised Herpes simplex Acyclovir therapy Viral nuclear inclusion bodies
Cite this article
South African Medical Journal 2012;102(6):472-473.
Article History
Date submitted: 2011-11-22
Date published: 2012-03-02
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