A previously healthy 43-year-old male physician received a diagnosis of EVD on September 6, 2014, while he was working in an Ebola treatment unit in Kenema, Sierra Leone. He was transferred to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta and arrived 4 days after the onset of symptoms. He was treated with an experimental small interfering RNA antiviral agent (TKM-100802, Tekmira Pharmaceuticals), convalescent plasma, and aggressive supportive care.5

The hospital course was complicated by multiorgan system failure requiring mechanical ventilation for 12 days and hemodialysis for 24 days.6 After extubation, the patient had altered mental status, difficulty walking related to severe proximal weakness and deconditioning, and extreme fatigue. On day 44 of the illness, hemodialysis was no longer required and his mental status had markedly improved, with some residual mild word-finding difficulty. Ambulation was limited to short distances because of exertional fatigue. Blood and urine tested negative for EBOV on quantitative reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay on serial specimens, and he was discharged home. A semen sample obtained on the day of discharge was positive for EBOV RNA on quantitative RT-PCR assay, and EBOV was isolated from semen by means of culture at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).7 The patient was advised to abstain from sex or to use condoms for at least 3 months.8 Longitudinal monitoring of semen specimens for EBOV is ongoing.

After discharge, 10 weeks after the onset of EVD symptoms, the patient’s word-finding difficulty and exercise tolerance were markedly improved, but he had new symptoms, including low back pain involving the right lumbar and sacroiliac region, bilateral enthesitis of the Achilles’ tendon, and paresthesias involving the distal lower limbs. Ophthalmic symptoms, which began shortly after discharge from the hospital, included occasional bilateral ocular burning, foreign-body sensation, and photophobia. He required an adjustment in his prescription for reading glasses, which suggested an accommodative change. His ocular history was clinically significant only for myopia. He was referred to the Emory Eye Center for further evaluation.

Figure 1. Figure 1. Montage Fundus Photographs 10 Weeks after the Onset of Ebola Virus Disease. Multiple peripheral chorioretinal scars with hypopigmented haloes are visible in the right eye (Panel A) and left eye (Panel B) (white arrows). A small intraretinal hemorrhage (black arrow) is adjacent to a chorioretinal scar in the left eye.

On initial evaluation in November 2014, the patient’s visual acuity was 20/15 bilaterally while wearing eyeglasses. Intraocular pressure, pupils, ocular motility, and confrontational visual fields were normal. The examination of the anterior eye by means of slit lamp was normal. The examination of the dilated posterior eye revealed previously undocumented multiple, peripheral chorioretinal scars with hypopigmented halos in both eyes and a small intraretinal hemorrhage adjacent to one scar in the left eye (Figure 1). He received the diagnosis of posterior uveitis (i.e., chorioretinitis), a likely sequela of EVD. Close clinical follow-up was planned.

Figure 2. Figure 2. Slit-Lamp Photograph of the Left Eye 14 Weeks after the Onset of Ebola Virus Disease. Mild corneal edema, rare keratic precipitates (arrows), and inflammatory cells and protein in the anterior chamber are consistent with acute anterior uveitis.

One month later, 14 weeks after the diagnosis of EVD, he presented with an acute onset of redness, blurred vision with halos, pain, and photophobia in the left eye. Visual acuity was measured at 20/15 in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. The left intraocular pressure was highly elevated at 44 mm Hg (normal value, 10 to 21). Slit-lamp examination of the left eye showed conjunctival injection, mild corneal edema, rare nongranulomatous keratic precipitates, and grade 1+ leukocytes and protein (flare) in the anterior chamber (Figure 2). Examination of the anterior chamber with gonioscopy indicated no signs of angle closure. Dilated funduscopic examination showed stable chorioretinal scars in both eyes with no other signs of ocular inflammation. He received a diagnosis of anterior uveitis and ocular hypertension in the left eye. Treatment was started with eyedrops containing 1% prednisolone acetate four times daily and with ocular hypotensive agents including acetazolamide (at a dose of 500 mg orally twice daily), eyedrops containing 0.2% brimonidine twice daily, and eyedrops containing 2% dorzolamide and 0.5% timolol twice daily. Results of laboratory testing, including measurement of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein, were normal; rapid plasma reagin testing and serologic analysis for Toxoplasma gondii were negative.

Because of escalating anterior-chamber inflammation and worsening symptoms during the subsequent 48 hours, the frequency of administration of prednisolone acetate was increased to every 2 hours, and eyedrops containing 1% atropine twice daily were added. After another 24 hours of increasing inflammation and concern about an infectious cause, paracentesis of the anterior chamber was performed, with aspiration of 170 μl of aqueous humor through a sterile 30-gauge needle while the practitioner was wearing gloves and a surgical mask. The specimen was double-bagged and delivered to a dedicated laboratory at Emory University Hospital for testing samples from patients with EVD. Testing was performed by clinical laboratory technologists who were trained in the safe handling of infectious pathogens and with the use of the standard institutional operating protocols.9 The aqueous humor tested positive for EBOV RNA on quantitative RT-PCR assay, with a cycle threshold value of 18.7. EBOV was isolated from this specimen by means of a viral culture performed at the CDC.7 A conjunctival swab obtained before the procedure and tear-film specimens collected before the procedure and 24 hours after the procedure tested negative for EBOV RNA on quantitative RT-PCR assay. In addition, a specimen of peripheral blood tested negative for EBOV RNA on quantitative RT-PCR assay. Preliminary analyses of EBOV sequenced from blood during the patient’s hospitalization for symptomatic EVD, as compared with EBOV sequenced from ocular fluid, identified a single nonsynonymous mutation, as well as two silent mutations and two mutations in noncoding regions. The significance of these mutations is unknown. However, these findings are in contrast to results that showed no changes in viral consensus sequences acquired over several days from a single patient.10 All personal protective equipment and materials that were used during paracentesis and laboratory testing were sterilized by means of autoclaving before disposal.11

The uveitis continued to progress; by 5 days after the onset of symptoms, visual acuity in the left eye was decreased to 20/60. Anterior-segment examination revealed scleritis and persistent anterior uveitis. Intermediate uveitis (i.e., vitritis, with grade 0.5+ haze) was noted on examination of the dilated posterior segment. Oral prednisone (at a dose of 1 mg per kilogram of body weight per day) was started. Ophthalmic drops of 1% prednisolone acetate every 2 hours, 0.5% timolol twice daily, and 1% atropine twice daily were continued in the left eye.

Figure 3. Figure 3. Fundus Photograph of the Left Eye 14 Weeks after the Onset of Ebola Virus Disease. Severe vitritis is indicated by the obscuration of the optic nerve and blood vessels.

During the subsequent 72 hours, the patient’s condition improved, with resolution of the scleritis and a decrease in the anterior uveitis. Despite this improvement in the anterior-segment inflammation, the vitritis worsened, resulting in a decrease in visual acuity to 20/400 in the left eye at 1 week (Figure 3). Continued clinical deterioration of the patient’s left eye prompted the initiation of treatment with topical difluprednate (Alcon Laboratories), a 21-day course of oral favipiravir (MediVector), a periocular injection of triamcinolone, and a 10-week tapering course of oral prednisone. On examination 3 months after presentation with uveitis, the vitritis was resolving and left visual acuity had recovered to 20/15. Follow-up ophthalmic evaluations are ongoing.