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- Published on: 23 July 2021
- Published on: 23 July 2021Diplopia due to idiopathic orbital myositis can mimic cellulitis or infectious orbitopathy
We were delighted to read the article on orbital myositis heralding herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) [1], highlighting the importance of considering an underlying infectious aetiology in cases of painful complex ophthalmoplegia.
Infections are a common cause of neurological complications in our setting, although unique cases continue to remind us about broader differentials. We encountered a case of a 55-year-old female with an unremarkable past medical history who was on holiday in Mombasa but presented to a local ophthalmologist with acute-onset diplopia and a painful swollen left eye. She was commenced on oral and topical antibiotics for a presumed pre-septal orbital cellulitis, but did not improve so was transferred urgently to our tertiary regional referral centre in Nairobi. Further social and travel history were non-revealing. On physical examination her blood pressure and temperature were normal, and she had no signs of thyroid disease. On full neurological examination she only had a left lateral rectus palsy with no other signs, and mild left peri-orbital swelling with erythema.
Comprehensive investigations (including metabolic, inflammatory, auto-immune, vasculitic and infective blood tests panels) as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain with venography and angiography were all normal except for modestly raised C-reactive protein of 13 mg/dL (normal range 0-5). MRI of the orbits revealed enlargement of the left lateral rectus with...
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