Thirty horses fitted both inclusion criteria (diagnosis of keratomycosis and positive corneal fungal culture).
Fourteen of 30 cases occurred during summer.
Aspergillus was the most commonly cultured fungal genus (17/30, or 57%) followed by Alternaria (4/30).
Seventeen horses had positive bacterial and fungal cultures.
Fifteen of 30 horses were treated surgically by a keratectomy and amnion (8) or conjunctival (7) graft.
Itraconazole was the most common topical anti-fungal therapy and was utilised in 25/30 horses.
Globe survival was 97% (29/30).
All surviving globes had a positive menace response and were visual at the last examination.
It was concluded that in the mid-Atlantic USA, fungal keratitis is common, has the highest incidence in summer, and is usually associated with a positive outcome.
Aspergillus may be a relatively more common corneal pathogen in this region than elsewhere in the USA.
Surgical cases were more likely to have fungal hyphae identified on cytology and tended to be hospitalised longer than medical cases.
There was no apparent association between surgical disease and all other patient, organism and treatment variables.
Source: M. E. Utter, K. L. Wotman, M. Armour, J. Bagel (2009): Clinical findings and outcomes of ulcerative keratomycosis in 30 horses in the mid-Atlantic United States (2006Ā2007). In: Equine Veterinary Education
Volume 22 Issue 1, Pages 31 - 39
Published Online: 10 Dec 2009
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