PMID- 9709763
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19980825
LR  - 20041117
IS  - 0161-6420 (Print)
IS  - 0161-6420 (Linking)
VI  - 105
IP  - 8
DP  - 1998 Aug
TI  - Limbal vernal keratoconjunctivitis in the tropics.
PG  - 1489-93
AB  - OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the pathology of vernal 
      keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) in children from Kenya. DESIGN: Case series. 
      PARTICIPANTS: Ten patients with clinically active and untreated limbal VKC and 
      five age-matched control subjects without external eye disease were recruited 
      from a district eye hospital in Kenya. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Paraffin sections 
      of limbal and tarsal conjunctiva were examined by tinctorial and 
      immunocytochemical methods to characterize the inflammatory infiltrate. RESULTS: 
      In comparison with control subjects, patients with VKC were more likely to show 
      squamous metaplasia of the tarsal conjunctiva. The patients with VKC had cellular 
      infiltration of both the stroma and epithelium consistent with chronic 
      inflammation, particularly in the biopsy specimens taken from the limbus. In 
      tarsal conjunctiva, the stromal infiltrate consisted of a diffuse T-lymphocyte 
      reaction with clustering of B-lymphocytes; mast cells, immunoglobulin E (IgE) 
      plasma cells, and eosinophils also were prominent. Mast cells and eosinophils 
      were found within the epithelium in the more severely inflamed biopsy specimens. 
      CONCLUSIONS: These features are similar to those in reports of VKC in temperate 
      regions, although the degree of B-lymphocyte clustering is greater in tropical 
      patients with VKC. Although none of the patients had other symptoms of atopy, the 
      authors findings are consistent with those for an allergic basis for this 
      disease.
FAU - Tuft, S J
AU  - Tuft SJ
AD  - Department of Clinical Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, England.
FAU - Cree, I A
AU  - Cree IA
FAU - Woods, M
AU  - Woods M
FAU - Yorston, D
AU  - Yorston D
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - Ophthalmology
JT  - Ophthalmology
JID - 7802443
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - B-Lymphocytes/pathology
MH  - Child
MH  - Conjunctiva/pathology
MH  - Conjunctivitis, Allergic/ethnology/*pathology
MH  - Eosinophils/pathology
MH  - Epithelial Cells/pathology
MH  - Eyelids/pathology
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Kenya
MH  - Limbus Corneae/pathology
MH  - Male
MH  - Mast Cells/pathology
MH  - T-Lymphocytes/pathology
MH  - *Tropical Climate
EDAT- 1998/08/26 00:00
MHDA- 1998/08/26 00:01
CRDT- 1998/08/26 00:00
PHST- 1998/08/26 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1998/08/26 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1998/08/26 00:00 [entrez]
AID - S0161-6420(98)98034-4 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/S0161-6420(98)98034-4 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Ophthalmology. 1998 Aug;105(8):1489-93. doi: 10.1016/S0161-6420(98)98034-4.