Alternaria keratitis after corneal crosslinking.

PURPOSE: To report a case of fungal keratitis after corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) surgery.

OBSERVATIONS: We report a case of fungal keratitis after CXL for post-refractive surgery ectasia. The patient presented 12 days after surgery with a corneal ulcer that was culture positive for Alternaria species of fungus. She subsequently developed a bacterial superinfection. The keratitis resolved with medical therapy, although the patient required a penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) due to central corneal scarring.

CONCLUSIONS AND

IMPORTANCE

To our knowledge, this is the first case of fungal keratitis as a complication after CXL in the United States and the first case of Alternaria infection after CXL using the Dresden protocol. Infectious keratitis is a rare but serious complication of CXL, and we suggest continued innovation of operative techniques that may reduce the risk of infectious keratitis.