DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i08.020

Pages: 2825-2829

This was a retrospective study documenting the clinical profile and outcome of herpetic keratitis treated in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia from January 2012 to April 2014. A total of 41 patients [44 eyes] were included. The mean age was 36.2 years. Most patients had no precipitating factors [79.5%]. Of the remainder, 13% had corneal trauma. The most common presenting symptoms were redness [75%], reduced visual acuity [65.9%] and ocular pain [52.3%]. Three-quarters of patients had reduced corneal sensation. The majority [86.4%] had unilateral involvement. There was a centrally-located ulcer in 45.4%. The most common sequelae of infection were corneal scarring [54.5%]. The presenting visual acuity was 6/18 or better in 70.5%. Post-treatment, 84.1% of patients had a visual acuity of 6/18 or better. The recurrence rate was 36.4%. Recognition of risk factors and clinical presentation of herpetic keratitis may assist the clinician in making an accurate and timely diagnosis.