[Infectious keratitis and corneal transplantation in a 15-year-old patient wearing contact lenses]

Soft contact lens wearing increases the risk of an infectious keratitis. A patient present with a red painfull eye, in which case a corneal erosion (coloring with fluorescein) was seen by the general practitioner. It is possible that the clinical course worsens in a few days with a corneal perforation as a result. In these cases a timely referral is necessary.

A fifteen year old soft contact lens wearing girl developed an infectious keratitis. Within a few days she developed a corneal perforation. As a result of an emergency transplantation within 24 hours the patient preserved her globe and her visual acuity recovered.

Emergency transplantations usually have a complicated course with a high risk of re-transplantation and long-term pharmacological therapy. Such an emergency transplantation is primarily performed to preserve the globe. In the Netherlands a separate pool of emergency donor transplants is available, so that a transplantation can be performed within 24 hours.