Orbital and conjunctival nontuberculous mycobacteria infection

Abstract

A 64-year-old female developed refractory red-eye with itching and watery discharge 2 weeks after being injured by a comb in the left eye. It presented as diffuse pinkish thickening of the bulbar conjunctiva. Biopsy and histological examinations revealed granulomatous inflammation with microgranuloma. Acid-fast-positive bacilli were found within the tissue, which was identified by culture 5 weeks later as Mycobacterium Abscessus . The orbital computed tomography with contrast medium showed irregular enhancement with an ill-defined margin along the inferior sclera. Due to symptomatic and recurrent bulbar conjunctival thickening and abscess-like lesion formations, wide excision of the conjunctival and orbital granuloma with amniotic membrane transplantation was performed twice. Conjunctiva inflammation subsided after the surgical treatment was combined with 4 months of topical and parenteral antimycobacterial treatment. The presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of ocular nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection will be discussed in this article. NTM can cause infections of all adnexal and ocular tissues in patients with ocular trauma or surgical history. The pathological findings were granulomatous inflammation without true caseating. Periocular cutaneous, adnexal, and orbital NTM infections remain rare and require surgical debridement and long-term parenteral antibiotic therapy.

Breeding records, urban habitat, and threats to the masked palm civet in Taiwan

“…Global urban areas could increase by 1.8 to 5.9 times, and this increase is expected to be most evident in regions in Asia and Africa (Gao and O'Neill 2020). In Taiwan, urban areas increased from 1.58% of all land area in 1990 to 4.45% in 2010 (data from Chen et al 2020, and analyzed in this study). In 2010, >13% of Taiwan's land area was designated as an urban planning division area (https://ssur.cc/sAREjzv9w, accessed 1 Jul 2022) and indicated that urban areas will continue to increase.…”

“…Precipitation is high in summer but scarce in winter, and the mean temperature ranges from 16°C (Jan) to 29°C (Jul). In 2010, urban areas in Taichung comprised 12.3% of the area, exceeding the mean percentage of urban areas in Taiwan, which was 4.5% (data reanalyzed from Chen et al 2020). Ficus ( Ficus spp.…”