[Perforated corneal ulcer after recurrent herpetic keratitis]

The paper presents a case of spontaneous perforation of the cornea happened on an eye with neglected relapsed herpetic keratitis. It is discussed the role of corticotherapy, local toxicity of used antiviral drugs and neurotrophic troulles in the territory of the ophthalmic nerve, as being factors which could have hurried up the evolution towards the perforation. The relapses specific to infections with herpes simplex are favoured by the cantonment of the virus, in latent state, in the trigeminal ganglion but also possibly in the ocular tissues (including the cornea). The use of corticosteroids in deep herpetic keratitis must permanently have in view the possibility of persistence of the virus in the corneal tissue.