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Arch Ophthalmol. 1998;116:1386-1388.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Intraocular tuberculosis (TB) is rare; infection occurs via hematogenous spread, usually from the lung. Resurgence of tuberculosis in the developed world as a result of immigration, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and drug resistance has led to improved methods of diagnosis. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be difficult to isolate in vitro. Amplification of DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has recently been used to identify M tuberculosis in ocular tissue samples of patients with systemic TB.¹ We describe 3 patients with ocular disease in whom routine investigations failed to identify systemic tuberculous infection. In 1 patient, initial misdiagnosis had serious consequences. The use of PCR on aqueous humor samples from 2 other patients confirmed the diagnosis and they received prompt treatment.

To our knowledge, this is the first report of patients without acquired immunodeficiency syndrome being diagnosed with ocular TB with no evidence of systemic disease, in whom PCR testing established the diagnosis.

Report of Cases

Case 1

. . . [Full Text of this Article]

Case 2

Case 3

Comment
Corresponding author: Kim Bibby, FRCS, FRCOphth, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Infirmary Road, Leicester LE1 5WW, England.

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