Epidemiological and Diagnostic Profile of Patients With Clinical Trachoma in Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo Between 1997 and 2006

Abstract

Purpose: : to evaluate the clinical and laboratorial profile of individuals with clinical diagnosis of trachoma in metropolitan area of São Paulo (Brazil) between 1997 and 2006.

Methods: : a retrospective study of 107 charts from patients with clinical diagnosis of trachoma in the outpatient clinic of Santa Casa de Sao Paulo between 1997 and 2006 was analyzed. All patients analyzed had clinical diagnosis of trachoma and were submitted to Direct Fluorescent Antibody (DFA) test of conjunctival smear. The data collected was as follows: sex, age, form of trachoma, DFA test results and number of elementary body (EB). One single specialist performed all EDA test.

Results: : From 107 patients with clinical diagnosis of trachoma, we observed 58 (54.2%) males. The mean age was 17.44 ± 16.63 years old. The DFA test result revealed 87.85% positive for 5 or more EB. Follicular trachoma (TF) was present in 82.24% of the cases; 8.41% of inflammatory trachoma (TI) and 9.35% of trachomatous scarring (TS). Other forms of trachoma were not found in the sample studied (trachomatous trichiasis and corneal opacity).

Keywords: trachoma • conjunctivitis • microscopy: light/fluorescence/immunohistochemistry