Corneal plaque containing levofloxacin in a dog

Abstract

A 13-year-old castrated male Yorkshire terrier developed a corneal ulcer 2 weeks after intracapsular lens extraction (ICLE) in the right eye. The corneal ulcer was treated with levofloxacin eye drops. A plaque with a white luster developed in the central cornea 2 weeks after treatment with levofloxacin eye drops. The corneal plaque was surgically removed under inhalant anesthesia. The corneal plaque displayed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli. Furthermore, levofloxacin content in the plaque was confirmed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight/time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF/TOF) mass spectrometry (MS). The corneal ulcer completely resolved 2 weeks after the surgical removal of the corneal lesion and replacement of levofloxacin eye drops with tobramycin eye drops. Although the topical use of levofloxacin is unlikely to lead to corneal chemical deposits due to the high water solubility of the drug compared to other topical fluoroquinolones, this patient developed corneal plaque of the antibiotic drop.

Infectious crystalline keratopathy in dogs and cats: clinical, in vivo confocal microscopic, histopathologic, and microbiologic features of eight cases

“…Based upon this report, clinical differentiation of ICK from other corneal lesions with a crystalline appearance (e.g., corneal dystrophy, lipid keratopathy, corneal degeneration, pharmaceutical deposits) can be challenging without additional diagnostic assays . Infectious crystalline keratopathy in dogs and cats appears to be most commonly unilateral, progressive, not initially associated with perilesional corneal vessels, and isolated to a single lamellar plane when viewed by biomicroscopy.…”