Yale School of Medicine, 135 College Street, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University School of Medicine, 40 Temple Street, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
BMC Ophthalmol. 2024 Jul 24;24(1):310. doi: 10.1186/s12886-024-03568-6.
Prior case reports and animal studies have reported on potential ophthalmologic complications of babesiosis, but this issue has not previously been addressed in a cohort of patients with babesiosis. This cross-sectional descriptive pilot study evaluated the retinas of patients with acute babesiosis to determine if retinal abnormalities are a feature of the disease.
We screened all patients admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital with laboratory confirmed babesiosis during the summer of 2023 and obtained informed consent. Patients were interviewed and underwent pupil dilation and a retinal examination using an indirect ophthalmoscope. Demographic and clinical information were obtained by questionnaire and through chart review.
Ten patients underwent retinal eye exams with results that were generally unremarkable. No study patients showed any signs of retinal inflammation, infection, retinal bleeding, retinal tears, or abnormal vessel formation that could be attributed to infection.
This small study did not find evidence of retinopathy in patients with babesiosis. Further studies with larger populations, repeated exams, and long term follow up will further elucidate the potential small vessel complications of human babesiosis.
先前的病例报告和动物研究已经报道了巴贝斯虫病的潜在眼科并发症，但这一问题以前尚未在巴贝斯虫病患者的队列中得到解决。本横断面描述性试点研究评估了急性巴贝斯虫病患者的视网膜，以确定视网膜异常是否为该疾病的特征。
我们筛选了 2023 年夏季在耶鲁纽黑文医院住院并经实验室确诊为巴贝斯虫病的所有患者，并获得了知情同意。对患者进行了访谈，并使用间接检眼镜进行了瞳孔扩张和视网膜检查。通过问卷调查和病历回顾获得了人口统计学和临床信息。
十名患者接受了视网膜眼部检查，结果通常无明显异常。没有研究患者出现任何可能归因于感染的视网膜炎症、感染、视网膜出血、视网膜撕裂或异常血管形成的迹象。
这项小型研究未发现巴贝斯虫病患者存在视网膜病变的证据。进一步的研究需要更大的人群、重复的检查和长期的随访，以进一步阐明人类巴贝斯虫病的潜在小血管并发症。
