Culture plates for growing pleuropneumonia-like organisms and plates for aerobic and anaerobic cultures

This communication reports the results of an investigation into the aetiology of uveitis, which was recently carried out at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London. During the period from May, 1957, to December, 1958, 248 male patients attending the Institute for the first time have been investigated. All new male patients with uveitis, whether anterior or posterior, were examined, thus eliminating the possibility of selection. A detailed clinical history was obtained and a thorough physical examination performed. Prostatic fluid was obtained by prostatic massage and five separate unstained specimens were examined microscopically at once. A stained smear of the fluid was also examined. Culture plates for growing pleuropneumonia-like organisms and plates for aerobic and anaerobic cultures were inoculated with prostatic fluid and with the centrifuged deposit of urine. Detailed haematological studies and serological tests including a complement-fixation test for P.P.L.O. were also carried out. The Rose-Waaler differential sheep cell agglutination test was performed on sera from a large sample of the patients. Radiographs of the chest, sacro-iliac joints, hands, feet, and ankles were taken in each case. The uveitis from which the patients suffered was divided into anterior, posterior, and generalized. These subdivisions were based on the findings of the ophthalmologist who first examined the patients when they attended the Institute, and, in cases of doubt, were determined by a further ophthalmolological examination. The prostatic fluid was considered to be abnormal if clumps of pus were found in the specimens or if more than ten leucocytes were present in several 1/12th inch microscopic fields. The criteria for the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis are well known and have been described