[Keratitis - Infectious or Autoimmune?].

Histopathological evaluation of ocular tissues is important in differentiating between infectious and autoimmune disease. Inflammation, necrosis and keratolysis are common to most forms of keratitis. Histopathology can be of great help in identifying the causative organism, establishing a final diagnosis and/or managing the patient with herpes simplex virus keratitis, mycotic keratitis, acanthamoeba keratitis or microsporidia keratoconjunctivitis. Important pathogenetic knowledge with therapeutic relevance has been gained from histopathological studies in nummular keratitis after epidemic keratoconjunctivitis and atopic keratoconjunctivitis. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.