Fungal keratitis at the University of Minnesota: 1971-1981.

FUNGAL INFECTION OF THE CORNEA MUST BE CONSIDERED IN THE DIFFERENTIAL diagnosis of any corneal ulcer. Since this is a relatively rare condition, most publications have been either individual case reports or a large series reported from referral centers especially in the southern and western United States.`5 Epidemiologic data from these reports indicate that keratomycosis would most likely occur in an otherwise healthy male working or playing outdoors after corneal abrasion with plant material. Except for seven reported cases of keratomycosis from the state of Wisconsin by Chin et al in 1975,6 there has been no series of mycotic keratitis reported from the north-central region of the United States, a region with a large population of agricultural workers. The purpose of this paper is to report a series of 19 culture proven cases of fungal keratitis treated at the University of Minnesota over a ten-year time period demonstrating this disease is a significant problem in the northern states, especially in the rural farm population.