Ocular tuberculosis in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia - A case series

INTRODUCTION: Ocular tuberculosis (TB) encompasses a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations affecting different structures of the eye. It is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a great ancient organism that induces various types of diseases and unfavorable outcomes if unrecognized and not well treated.

PURPOSE: To report the clinical profile of 34 ocular TB cases observed during 6 years period in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM).

METHOD: A retrospective review of medical records from 34 patients diagnosed with ocular TB in HUSM from January 2011 until December 2016.

RESULTS: The mean age was 43 ± 14.6 years old. Both male and female affected in about 1:1 ratio. The majority of subjects were local Malays (91.2%). Risk factors included previous contact with pulmonary TB patients (38.2%), and patients with underlying diabetes mellitus (26.5%). Most patients showed normal chest radiography (79.4%). However they had positive Mantoux test (94.1%) and raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) value (58.8%). Uveitis was the most common ocular manifestation of ocular TB (70.6%) while the rare ocular manifestations included optic perineuritis and optic neuritis, orbital apex syndrome, orbital cellulitis, sclerokeratitis, corneal ulcer and conjunctival abscess. All patients responded well to anti-TB treatment, but visual outcome was variable.

CONCLUSIONS: This review shows the diverse entity of ocular TB spectrum in an endemic area. Good clinical response to anti-tuberculous therapy supported the presumed diagnosis of ocular TB in majority of the cases.