[In vitro study of propamidine isethionate: value in the follow-up of Acanthamoeba amebic keratitis]. / Etude in vitro de l'iséthionate de propamidine: intérêt dans le suivi des kératites amibiennes à Acanthamoeba.

Propamidine isethionate eye drops is one of the treatments which are used against amebic keratitis with Acanthamoeba. Several strains of Acanthamoeba, having been tested with this drug during several weeks, did show off a resistance. The authors come to the conclusion that in vitro sensitivity must be examined and therapy must be perfect since the beginning.

[Value of nu/nu mice in the production of experimental amoebic keratitis with Acanthamoeba]. / Intérêt de la souris nu/nu dans la réalisation de la kératite expérimentale à amibes libres du genre Acanthamoeba.

The intracorneal inoculation of nude mice with Acanthamoeba hatchetti amoebae induced a keratitis with disruption of corneal fibres, inflammatory response, secondary vascularization and amoebic trophozoites.

[Acanthamoeba keratitis. Epidemiologic and parasitologic study]. / Kératite amibienne á Acanthamoeba. Etude épidémiologique et parasitologique.

The amebic keratitis with Acanthamoeba are until now rare, but however increasing as their diagnosis is better, and the contact lens wearers more numerous. The authors present the clinical and parasitological features of cases they did diagnose since 1986. In the immunological sphere, the T4 lymphocytes were 20% less than the normal for the first patient, and the third one had a very low level of immunoglobulins A. In the evolution sphere, the first one did received a keratoplasty; the second one has been successfully treated with propamidine isethionate; for the third one, the treatment with propamidine isethionate was nonuseful and a keratoplasty which was finally performed did show off numerous amebic cysts. In the parasitologic sphere, Acanthamoeba polyphaga was isolated from the first case, Acanthamoeba quina from the second one and Acanthamoeba lugdunensis from the last one. These last two cases are the first which did permit to isolate these amoebae, morphologically near to the first species.