Keratouveitis caused by handling of a tarantula

Abstract

Introduction. The aim of this paper was to present a case of keratouveitis caused by casual handling of a tarantula. Tarantulas, including the Grammostola rosea (Chilean rose), have barbed irritant or urticating hairs, which may be shed during casual handling and in contact with the eye migrate to different parts of the eye and cause inflammatory response known as ophthalmia nodosa. Case outline. A 15-year-old boy presented to our department with a sudden onset of a sore, red left eye, which he noticed after handling his tarantula pet. Slit-lamp examination of the left eye revealed ciliary injection and multiple hairs in all corneal layers. Topical antibiotic and corticosteroid treatment was commenced and there was initial improvement in his clinical status. Three weeks after the initial presentation he developed uveitis and mild macular oedema in his left eye and the best corrected visual acuity in the left eye was reduced. Only local corticosteroid treatment was continued and there was improvement in both the best corrected visual acuity and clinical status of the left eye, while the corneal hairs had not migrated and were still present in all corneal layers despite of long-term tapering regimen of topical steroid therapy. Conclusion. Handling of these increasingly popular exotic pets requires special precautionary measures.