Corneal ulcer due to a rare pleosporalean member of the genus Bipolaris following cow tail injury to the eye: A case report and review of literature

Abstract

Aspergillus and Fusarium are the most common fungi causing mycotic keratitis. Injury to the eye with vegetable matter, cow tail injury, long-term use of topical steroids are some of the risk factors for mycotic keratitis. There are few case reports of keratitis caused by Bipolaris. The human pathogenic species in the genus are Bipolaris spicifera, Bipolaris hawaiiensis, Bipolaris papendorfii, and Bipolaris australiensis. Most commonly reported keratitis is caused by B. hawaiiensis, followed by B. spicifera. Literature review showed only one case report of keratitis due to B. australiensis reported from Australia. We present a first case report of keratitis due to B. australiensis (currently Curvularia australienis) from India.

Keywords

• Bipolaris australiensis
• corneal ulcer
• keratomycoses
• phaeoid fungi