Interstitial Keratitis, or its abbreviation “IK” for many ophthalmologists, is an inflammation of the cornea. “Keratitis” is the term for inflammation of the cornea, while “interstitial” refers to the area between cells. In this case, it refers to the stroma—the area between the epithelium and endothelium of the cornea. Other names include “nonulcerative keratitis”, which describes the inflammation as not breaking through the epithelial layer of the cornea via sores, “syphilitic keratitis,” termed because syphilis is the most common cause of interstitial keratitis, and “immune stromal keratitis”, since often the inflammation is caused by an immune system response. Interstitial keratitis is caused by either an active infection or by a reaction
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Thus, it is important for the diagnosis and management of the underlying disease resulting in interstitial keratitis in order to achieve an effective treatment. There are many causes of interstitial keratitis belonging to four main categories: bacterial, viral, parasitic, and immune-related. Some etiologies of IK include syphilis, tuberculosis, leprosy, Lyme disease, herpes (both simplex and zoster), Epstein-Barr, Leishmaniasis, Onchocerciasis, Trypanosomiasis, Cogan’s Syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis (William B. Trattler 49). Depending on the disease that it is associated with, interstitial keratitis can be bilateral, which means to affect both eyes, or unilateral, which means to affect one eye, diffuse or sectorial, and central or paracentral. Additionally, the degree of vascularization in the stroma and other symptoms such as iritis, the inflammation of the iris, or scleritis, the inflammation of the white of the eye, are important for diagnosing and pinpointing the underlying disease that is occurring with the interstitial …show more content…
Challenging the original literature that 90% of interstitial keratitis was caused by syphilis, the researchers discovered that 35.1% of the patients with interstitial keratitis had it attributed to the herpes simplex virus whereas only 18.6% had the disease attributed to syphilis. Thus, they concluded that herpes was the most common cause of interstitial keratitis, while syphilis was still the main cause of inactive interstitial keratitis. This cause of this change was attributed to the improved healthcare infrastructure and use of antibiotics. Herpetic interstitial keratitis is attributed to either stromal infection or an immune-mediated reaction. Like acquired syphilitic keratitis, it is usually unilateral, but is often accompanied with
Thus, it is important for the diagnosis and management of the underlying disease resulting in interstitial keratitis in order to achieve an effective treatment. There are many causes of interstitial keratitis belonging to four main categories: bacterial, viral, parasitic, and immune-related. Some etiologies of IK include syphilis, tuberculosis, leprosy, Lyme disease, herpes (both simplex and zoster), Epstein-Barr, Leishmaniasis, Onchocerciasis, Trypanosomiasis, Cogan’s Syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis (William B. Trattler 49). Depending on the disease that it is associated with, interstitial keratitis can be bilateral, which means to affect both eyes, or unilateral, which means to affect one eye, diffuse or sectorial, and central or paracentral. Additionally, the degree of vascularization in the stroma and other symptoms such as iritis, the inflammation of the iris, or scleritis, the inflammation of the white of the eye, are important for diagnosing and pinpointing the underlying disease that is occurring with the interstitial …show more content…
Challenging the original literature that 90% of interstitial keratitis was caused by syphilis, the researchers discovered that 35.1% of the patients with interstitial keratitis had it attributed to the herpes simplex virus whereas only 18.6% had the disease attributed to syphilis. Thus, they concluded that herpes was the most common cause of interstitial keratitis, while syphilis was still the main cause of inactive interstitial keratitis. This cause of this change was attributed to the improved healthcare infrastructure and use of antibiotics. Herpetic interstitial keratitis is attributed to either stromal infection or an immune-mediated reaction. Like acquired syphilitic keratitis, it is usually unilateral, but is often accompanied with