The reverse Wessely phenomenon: immune corneal rings following systemic immunisation.

Abstract

Since the time when Wessely (1911) first demonstrated an immune reaction to foreign serum protein introduced into the rabbit cornea several other related immune phenomena have been described. Morawiecki (1956) demonstrated that the cornea could behave much like an agar substrate for migration of immune reactants in producing precipitin arcs as in gel diffusion. Parks et al. (1962) revealed a delayed hypersensitivity response in the cornea if it was overloaded with antigen in attempts to produce the Wessely phenomenon. The cornea was used for many years as the critical in-vivo test for delayed hypersensitivity to a given antigen (Salvin and Gregg, 1961). and showed that after recovering from an initial antigen sensitisation the cornea possessed an immune memory, independent of humoral immune factors, expressed as a local immune phenomenon for as long as 1 year after challenge. The same effect, described as 'super rings' by Breebaart and James-Witte (1959), was thought to be merely an amplified Wessely phenomenon, but the antigen diffusion kinetics and other characteristics were shown to be distinct .The Wessely phenomenon may be considered to be a type of Arthus phenomenon lacking only the

Atypical Presentation of Herpes Stromal Keratitis in a Contact Lens Wearer

“…The revision of our initial diagnosis was necessary when the patient failed to respond to the standard treatment given, and the cultures were negative for Acanthamoeba. The ring-shaped infiltrates seen in this patient are caused by an immune response involving an antigen-antibody complex formation called the Wessely stromal immune ring [ 8 ]. It must be emphasized that the presence of stromal ring-shaped infiltrates is not exclusively associated with Acanthamoeba infection.…”