Case Series of Parinaud’s Oculoglandular Syndrome Caused by Fungal Infection

Abstract

We report 5 cases of fungal-related Parinaud’s oculoglandular syndrome (POS), presenting to Hospital Sultanah Aminah from June 2017 to June 2019. This is a retrospective case series. Four patients presented with unilateral POS while another patient presented with unilateral granulomatous conjunctivitis which did not respond to a two-week course of oral doxycycline (4 patients) or a three-day course of oral azithromycin (1 patient). While all patients had contact with cats, only one had a history of being scratched by a cat. Three patient’s pet cats were receiving treatment for ‘Sporo’ skin infection by their veterinarians while another two patients had no history suggestive of their cats having active infection. The first patient who presented with POS following her cat scratching her leg, had a skin biopsy done and received a course of antifungal antibiotics from a dermatologist when it was discovered that the cat had a fungal skin infection. Both her leg skin lesion and POS completely resolved. Conjunctival biopsies were performed in other 4 patients at 2 weeks to 1 month after their first presentation in view of poor response to antibiotics. Two patients’ conjunctival fungal culture and sensitivity showed a growth of Sporothrix schenkii. Both symptoms and conjunctival lesions resolved completely after taking a course of oral Itraconazole for 6 weeks (1 patient), 3 months (3 patients) and 4 months (1 patient). POS is most commonly caused by Bartonella hensalae infection related to a cat’s scratch. Detailed history taking is important in diagnosing infection by other microorganisms such as fungi especially when the lesion does not respond to conventional antibiotic therapy. Besides clinical monitoring, conjunctival culture and sensitivity support the diagnosis.