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Mycotic Keratitis Caused by Fusarium solani sensu stricto (FSSC5): A Case Series

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Abstract

Owing to a lack of appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for mycotic keratitis, approximately one million cases of preventable corneal blindness are reported each year. The number of keratitis cases due to infection with Fusarium is increasing significantly worldwide, many of which are not treated adequately and in a timely manner due to frequent misdiagnosis. In the current report, we describe three cases of keratitis caused by Fusarium solani sensu stricto (FSSC5) from Turkey and The Netherlands, following ocular trauma. The etiological agent of keratitis, FSSC5, identified by sequencing of the partial tef1-α gene, exhibited low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 1 µg/mL for amphotericin B and high MICs above the published epidemiological cutoff values for voriconazole (8 µg/mL). Patients were successfully treated with topical amphotericin B and voriconazole with complete recovery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Mycology, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Çukurova, 01330, Adana, Turkey

    Hazal Boral & Macit Ilkit

  2. BU Biointeractions and Plant Health, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Anne van Diepeningen

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Çukurova, Adana, Turkey

    Elif Erdem & Meltem Yağmur

  4. Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    G. Sybren de Hoog & Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi

  5. Centre of Expertise in Mycology Radboud University Medical Centre/Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    G. Sybren de Hoog, Jacques F. Meis & Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi

  6. Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and ECMM Excellence Center for Medical Mycology, Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Jacques F. Meis

  7. Ministry of Health, Directorate General of Health Services, Ibri, Oman

    Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi

Authors
  1. Hazal Boral
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  2. Anne van Diepeningen
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  3. Elif Erdem
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  4. Meltem Yağmur
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  5. G. Sybren de Hoog
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  6. Macit Ilkit
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  7. Jacques F. Meis
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  8. Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi
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Correspondence to Macit Ilkit.

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Conflict of interest

JFM received grants from Astellas, Basilea, and Merck. He has been a consultant for Astellas and Merck and received speaker’s fees from Gilead Sciences, Merck, Pfizer, and United Medical. None of the other authors have competing interests.

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Handling Editor: Philip Aloysius Thomas.

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Boral, H., van Diepeningen, A., Erdem, E. et al. Mycotic Keratitis Caused by Fusarium solani sensu stricto (FSSC5): A Case Series. Mycopathologia 183, 835–840 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-018-0280-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-018-0280-7

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