Corneal staining after treatment with topical tetracycline.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to report a case of corneal staining after treatment with topical tetracycline.

METHODS

A patient with crystalline keratopathy caused by Streptococcus viridans after corneal transplantation was treated topically with tetracycline eye drops, based on results of bacterial sensitivity testing. After 3 weeks of intensive treatment, the donor cornea was stained with a brownish hue, which was ascribed to the tetracycline drops.

RESULTS

One patient with crystalline keratopathy developed corneal staining after intensive treatment with topical tetracycline eye drops. After a year of follow-up, the staining of the cornea had not changed significantly.

CONCLUSION

Hourly topical tetracycline eye drops may induce corneal pigmentation. To our knowledge, this is the first published case report of corneal staining caused by tetracycline eye drops.