ADENOVIRAL OCULAR ISOLATES DEMONSTRATE SEROTYPE-DEPENDENT DIFFERENCESIN IN-VITRO INFECTIVITY TITERS AND CLINICAL COURSE

The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical ocular adenoviral i solates for differences among and within serotypes with respect to in vitro infectivity titers and clincial course. The study design include d a retrospective chart review and the determination of in vitro infec tivity titers (TCID90S) of 90 clinical ocular isolates of various aden oviral serotypes. Adenovirus serotype 8 (AD8) was recovered in signifi cantly greater numbers of patients in the second week of infection com pared to all other serotypes (p < 0.002). AD3 and AD4 presented with t he highest infectivity titers during the first week of acute infection . Up to 4 logs of variation was demonstrated in TCID90S among isolates of the same serotype. Among the clinical parameters studied, eyelid e dema was significantly more common among AD8-infected patients as comp ared to all other serotypes (p < 0.04). For the first time, specific, but limited serotype differences with respect to infectivity titers an d clinical course were demonstrated for adenoviral ocular isolates. Im portant variations in isolate virulence within a given serotype were a lso observed.