Purpose. To report a rare presentation of culture positive Mycobacterium chelonae (M. chelonae)
corneal ulcer and its management. Case Report. We report a rare case with history of
chronic pain and blurriness of vision. Examination revealed chronic nonhealing paracentral
corneal ulcer inferiorly at 5 to 7 o'clock meridian with anterior chamber cells 1+ unresponsive to routine
antibiotic and antifungal medications with Mantoux test (MT) positivity in a middle aged nondiabetic patient with no prior obvious history of
trauma, ocular surgery, and
contact lens usage. Discussion. Ziehl Neelsen (ZN) staining in nonhealing
ulcer revealed
acid fast bacilli typical of M. chelonae with subsequent culture positivity in Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium. Subsequent treatment with topical fortified
amikacin and
tobramycin resulted in rapid healing of
corneal ulcer. Conclusion. M. chelonae presenting as a chronic nonhealing
corneal ulcer spontaneously occurring in a healthy young adult with no predisposing factor draws the need to have a good index of suspicion by performing ZN
stain and culture and its subsequent successful management with topical fortified
amikacin and
tobramycin.