アカントアメーバ角膜炎初期の角膜上皮像

Specular microscopy of corneal epithelium in early-stage Acanthamoeba keratitis

　アカントアメーバによる偽樹枝状角膜炎の上皮スペキュラーマイクロスコープ像を撮影し，樹枝状角膜炎と比較した。アカントアメーバ角膜炎では，潰瘍の中央に小型で明るく丸い細胞があり，周囲に大型の細胞や紡錘型細胞がみられた。紡錘型細胞は潰瘍の長軸方向に並んでいたが，潰瘍の先端部では放射状に配列していた点が，樹枝状角膜炎と異なっていた。

A 43-year-old woman presented with pseudoden-dritic keratitis caused by Acanthamoeba castellanii. She had been wearing soft contact lens for the past one year. By specular microscopy, we observedsmall, round, bright cells in the center of the pseudodendritic lesion with similar appearance as dendritic keratitis. Additionally, there were large cells and spindle-shaped cells around the small ones. Spindle-shaped cells were arranged parallel to the direction of pseudendritic keratitis. As unique feature differentiating them from dendritic keratitis, they were arranged radially at the tip of the dendritic lesions.