The purpose of this report is to describe three cases of unilateral conjunctivitis with canalicular involvement of long duration. One was associated with infection with both spirochetes and fusiform bacilli; the other two, with only fusiform bacilli. The pathogenesis and therapy are discussed, as well as methods for isolation and cultivation of the fusospirochetal agents.
Review of the Literature
Fusospirochetal (genus Fusobacterium1) ocular infections may be commoner than is revealed by the finding of only 19 cases in the literature, since 4 cases have been recognized at this institution in approximately two decades. As may be seen by reference to Table 1, these infections may develop by various pathways. The first reported case was that of Bertozzi,2 in which, during the course of an attack of measles, an intense conjunctival reaction and ensuing endophthalmitis developed in the right eye of a boy. A similar mechanism accounted for