Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Intravitreal Injection and Quantitation of Infection Parameters in a Mouse Model of Bacterial Endophthalmitis
Published on: February 6, 2021
Bacterial endophthalmitis caused by an intraocular cilium in a patient under treatment with infliximab
Xue-Hai Jin1, Kenichi Namba, Wataru Saito
1Department of Ophthalmology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. knamba@med.hokudai.ac.jp.
Background:
We report a case of bacterial endophthalmitis caused by an intraocular cilium in a patient without any history of trauma or ocular surgery.
Findings:
A 32-year-old Caucasian male showed symptoms of orbital myositis and scleritis, with no intraocular inflammation in the right eye. The patient had been treated with infliximab for Crohn's disease. Three weeks after initiation of oral prednisolone therapy, he developed bacterial endophthalmitis. During pars plana vitrectomy, a cilium in the massive vitreous opacity was found. A focal scleral necrosis was detected just outside where the cilium was intraoperatively observed. Vitreous culture showed the presence of Staphylococcus aureus.
Conclusions:
The intraocular cilium seemed to be the aetiology of the endophthalmitis in this case, which suggests that anti-tumour necrosis factor-α therapy may play a role in the migration of cilia into the globe and the occurrence of endophthalmitis.
Related Concept Videos
Microbiome of the Eye
Glaucoma: Overview
Angle Closure Glaucoma: Treatment
Drugs for Treatment of Crohn's Disease in IBD Using Biologic Agents: Anti-TNF
Inflammatory Bowel Disease III: Crohn's Disease
Open Angle Glaucoma: Treatment
Drugs such as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, α2- and...

