The blinding bug found in the eye

Abstract

Tubercular uveitis is a common manifestation of tuberculosis (TB) in TB-endemic countries. Due to lack of gold standard diagnostic tests for confirming intraocular TB, it is often either underdiagnosed or rarely over diagnosed. We report a case of a 28-year-old woman with diminution of vision in the left eye. She was started on antitubercular treatment (ATT) and steroids but she did not comply with the treatment. She developed progressive painful loss of vision consequently and was treated with vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade. After a complete course of ATT, she recovered, salvaging of eye and restoration of some vision was possible. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is rarely demonstrated in the ocular fluid samples of the suspected cases of TB due to the paucibacillary nature of the disease. A vitreous sample can be obtained from these patients. Surgical intervention in the form of vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade can help in avoiding enucleation/evisceration.