POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION FOR DIAGNOSIS OF HERPETIC EYE DISEASE

Herpesviruses cause retinal and choroidal disease worldwide. Establishing a definitive diagnosis of herpesviral ocular infection is difficult because traditional cell culture and serologic methods often yield ambiguous results. Ophthalmologists are often forced to initiate antiviral therapy based on clinical presentation alone. When the clinical diagnosis is not obvious the clinician often begins treating the patient with one drug and then changes drugs if the condition does not improve. Unfortunately, the patient's vision may be lost by the time a correct treatment is found. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) may be important in intraocular herpesviral infection (diagnosis because it is extremely sensitive, specific, and allows multiple tests to be done on a small sample volume.