Article
Freshwater sponge spicules: a new agent of ocular pathology
Registro en:
VOLKMER-RIBEIRO, Cecilia et al. Freshwater sponge spicules: a new agent of ocular pathology. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, v.1 01, n. 8, p. 899-903, 2006.
0074-0276
10.1590/S0074-02762006000800013
Autor
Volkmer-Ribeiro, Cecilia
Lenzi, Henrique Leonel
Oréfice, Fernando
Machado, Marcelo Pelajo
Alencar, Leandro M. de
Fonseca, Carlos F.
Batista, Twiggy C. A.
Manso, Pedro Paulo de Abreu
Coelho, Janice
Machado, Marcelo Pelajo
Resumen
Acknowledgements To LFG Caputo, AM dos Anjos, LHP Barros, and LS Souza for technical assistance. In a recent outbreak of human ocular injuries that occurred in the town of Araguatins, at the right bank of
Araguaia river, state of Tocantins, Brazil, along the low water period of 2005, two patients (8 and 12-year-old
boys) presented inferior adherent leukoma in the left eye (OS), and peripherical uveites, with snowbanking in
the inferior pars plana. The third one (13-year-old girl) showed posterior uveites in OS, also with snowbanking.
Histopathological analysis of lensectomy material from the three patients and vitrectomy from the last one
revealed several silicious spicules (gemmoscleres) of the freshwater sponges Drulia uruguayensis and D.
ctenosclera. This work brings material evidences, for the first time in the literature, that freshwater sponge
spicules may be a surprising new etiological agent of ocular pathology.