Clinical profile of herpes simplex viral keratitis cases attending eye opd in tertiary hospital of Chhattisgarh state

Introduction: Herpes simplex viral keratitis is a very common infective disease in western countries. Despite the availability of excellent topical antiviral agents, HSV remains a leading cause of unilateral corneal blindness in the United States and in all developed countries. Primary infection usually occurs in early life, & may be asymptomatic, but the real danger lies in the virus ability to establish latency in the neuronal ganglia & reactivation. This reactivation is an immune phenomenon which can lead to progressive corneal damage, as recurrences may be multiple & severe, ultimately causing corneal scarring, vascularisation, thinning & even perforation. Materials & Methods: The present prospective study was carried out on 100 eyes involving 80 patients of viral involvement of cornea, who presented to Department ophthalmology, Government Medical College, Rajnandgaon (C.G.), India, during the period from March 2016 to February 2017.To study for the precipitating factors, age& sex distribution, laterality, different types of lesions, complications & recurrences, detailed history of each case was taken & examined thoroughly. Ocular examination with slit lamp was carried out thoroughly. Fluorescein staining was also done in each case. All diagnosis was made clinically. Observations: Majority (62.5%) of patients belonged to 20 to 40 years followed by 18.75% of patients in 40 to 50 years age group. No cases were seen under 10 years age group in present study. Males were more commonly affected than females by 57.5%.In present study at first presentation onset of disease was spontaneous in 58.75%.In rest of the cases major precipitating factors were history of minor ocular trauma, fever, stress, exanthematous skin eruptions & UV light. Bilateral herpetic keratitis was found in 25% patients in present study. In present study epithelial keratitis was most common lesion (60% cases) found followed by stromal keratitis (23% cases). Among patients of epithelial keratitis, superficial punctuate keratitis (42% cases) was most common, followed by dendritic keratitis (11% cases) & geographic ulcer (7%cases). Conclusion: HSV keratitis is a major cause of unilateral blindness. Early diagnosis &management could restrict disease progression.