Toxic keratopathy following exposure to palytoxin from domestic Palythoa coral: A case report

Palytoxin (PTX), a biotoxin originating from seawater soft corals (spp. Palythoa and Zoanthus), is a powerful toxic agent causing severe keratopathy after ocular exposure [1]. The resulting atypical clinical picture is marked by acute damage to the ocular surface, with corneal ulceration and altered underlying stroma as well as varying degrees of severity up to perforation. There are no specific clinical and biological markers for PTX, so anamnesis is essential for the diagnosis [2]. We report a case of keratopathy secondary to exposure to PTX that occurred during cleaning of a domestic aquarium.