REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1559224
This article is part of the Research TopicHow to end corneal blindness in the world?View all articles
The pathogenesis、risk factors、diagnosis and treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Ophthalmology, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China
- 2Changchun Aier Eye Hospital, Changchun, China
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Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a rare corneal disease that can lead to permanent visual impairment. Its incidence is relatively low when compared with that of other forms of infectious keratitis. As early clinical diagnosis of AK is challenging (e.g., overlapping symptoms, lack of specific diagnostic tools, etc.), it is often misdiagnosed as other types of infectious keratitis, such as viral keratitis or fungal keratitis. Once a patient is diagnosed with AK, the prognosis is extremely poor unless an early start of an aggressive treatment program is implemented, as timely diagnosis and treatment are closely related to a good prognosis. AK can be diagnosed through corneal scraping, culture, polymerase chain reaction, or in vivo confocal microscopy. Drug treatment typically involves a combination of biguanide and diamine. In advanced stages of the disease, corneal transplantation is required. This review focuses on the pathogenesis, risk factors, early diagnosis, and treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis. This review aims to enhance the understanding of Acanthamoeba keratitis.
Keywords: Acanthamoeba Keratitis, diagnosis, Treatment, Risk factors, Pathogenesis
Received: 12 Jan 2025; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bao, Hai, Wang, Jia and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hongyan Zhou, Ophthalmology, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, 130033, Jilin Province, China
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