Tick-borne encephalitis related uveitis: a case report

BACKGROUND: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an infectious disease of the central nervous system caused by the TBE virus (TBEV), which is usually transmitted by a tick-bite, with increasing incidence in northeastern Europe and eastern Asia during the past decade. Ocular involvement has not been described in the literature to date. CASE PRESENTATION: A 58-year-old patient presented to the emergency department with occipital headaches and poor balance for 5 days. He reported a tick-bite 6 weeks before without erythema migrans followed by a flu-like syndrome. Serological testing was negative for Borreliosis and TBEV. At presentation, he was febrile with neck stiffness and signs of ataxia. Three days later, he presented unilateral visual loss in his right eye. Examination revealed non granulomatous anterior uveitis, vitreous inflammation, and retinal haemorrhages at the posterior pole without macular oedema or papillitis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the cerebrospinal fluid returned negative for all Herpes family viruses. No clinical evidence of other infection nor malignancy was identified. A seroconversion of the TBEV- immunoglobulin titres was observed 2 weeks later while the serum antibodies for Borrelia were still not detected. Magnetic resonance imaging was unremarkable. We concluded to the diagnosis of TBE-related uveitis. Under supportive treatment, there was complete resolution of the neurological symptoms and the intraocular inflammation without sequelae within the following weeks. CONCLUSIONS: We describe a new association of TBEV with uveitis. In view of the growing number of TBE cases and the potential severity of the disease we aim at heightening awareness to achieve prompt recognition, prevention, and treatment.