Detection of Epstein-Barr virus DNA by polymerase chain reaction in the vitreous from a patient with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome is a bilateral, diffuse, granulomatous uveitis associated with meninges, skin, hair, and ear manifestations, It is a race-dependent disorder with no definitive confirmatory diagnostic tests. The disease has long been suspected to have an autoimmune etiology with an unknown ''trigger'' mechanism, T-cell-mediated hypersensitivity reaction is believed to occur against choroidal melanocytes that express class II major histocompatibility complex antigens, The concept of viral origin has been an attractive theory; however, the virus has not been isolated from the eye, This is the first report of the detection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) from the vitreous of a patient with VKH syndrome using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.