Anterior Uveitis Associated with Human Herpesvirus 7 Infection Diagnosed by Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

Background

Herpetic anterior uveitis (AU) is usually caused by the herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, and cytomegalovirus. Herein, we report a case of herpetic AU associated with human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) infection.

Study Design

A case report

Case presentation

A 49-year-old female patient presented with complaints of blurred vision and hyperemia in the right eye. Slit-lamp examination revealed bilateral fine and a few small white keratic precipitates (KPs), Descemet membrane folds in the right eye, and severe and mild cellular infiltration in the anterior chamber of the right and left eye, respectively. HHV-7 viral DNA was detected by a polymerase chain reaction assay of an aqueous humor sample. The AU improved significantly with topical steroids.

Conclusion

We report a rare case of herpetic AU characterized by fine and small white KPs in which only HHV-7 DNA was detected in the aqueous humor.

KEYWORDS:

• Aqueous humor
• herpetic anterior uveitis
• human herpesvirus 7
• keratic precipitates
• polymerase chain reaction assay

Authors’ contributions

S.S., R.T., and T.K. designed the research, collected the data, and wrote the manuscript.

Consent

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for diagnostic anterior chamber aspiration and the publication of this report and any accompanying clinical data and images.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Japan Foundation for Applied Enzymology (2019).