Summary:
The damage of the eye is one of the clinical syndromes of the Toxocara infection,
caused by the migration activity of the Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati larvae.
Ocular larva migrans (OLM) lesions mostly occur unilaterally and frequently are
diagnosed as retinoblastoma. The typical symptoms of OLM are presented in our
publication. The first signs of the ocular infection most often include diminished
vision, leukocoria, red eye and strabismus. Inflammatory intraocular reaction,
caused as a response to the antigens, released from dead or dying larvae is often
diagnosed. The living larvae are observed very rarely.
The reason and a way of the ocular invasion are still not sufficiently cleared. The
supposition that the ocular syndrome is causedbymigration of single larvae, when
the immunological response is light, was not reliably verified. Sometimes if the
infection size was heavy, the eye can be invaded with systemic complications as
well.
The most common laboratory findings include an elevation of the immunoglobu-
lins in the serum of the patient and the presence of Toxocara specific antibodies
response in the vitreous and/or aqueous humor. An analysis of the humor in cases of presumptive OLMwas made only in 8 patients because not all oculists are ready
to take this material, mainly in children.
Highly sensitive assay - ELISA reaction with specific excretory - secretory antigen
(TES) was used. For discrimination between chronic and recent infection the
method of measuring IgG avidity was applied.
Key words:
ocular form of larval toxocariasis, avidity IgG, ELISA reaction and
ocular toxocariasis, Baylisascaris procyonis
|