Ulcerative keratitis associated with contact lens wear.

To review the microbiological profile of ulcerative keratitis associated with contact lens (CL)-wear, 35 patients with culture-proven CL-associated microbial keratitis were studied between September 1999 and September 2002. Corneal scrapes and CL-care products were collected and were subjected to microbiological evaluation. Gram-negative bacilli alone were recovered from the corneal scrapes of all 35 (100%) patients, all 70 (100%) CL storage case wells and also from CL-care solution of six (17.14%) of the 35 patients. There was a significantly higher number of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (71.43%) isolated from eyes with CL-related keratitis than other bacterial isolates (28.57%) (P<0.001). Microbial contamination of CL storage cases was a great risk for gram-negative bacterial infection among soft CL-wearers.

A study of the spectrum of Acanthamoeba keratitis: a three-year study at a tertiary eye care referral center in South India.

PURPOSE: To determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of Acanthamoeba keratitis and also to determine the sensitivity and specificity of smears in the detection of Acanthamoeba. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of all culture-positive cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis seen between October 1999 and August 2002 was performed. Corneal scrapes were subjected to culture and microscopy using standard protocols. RESULTS: Out of 3183 consecutive patients with clinically diagnosed corneal ulcers evaluated, 33 (1.04%) were found to be due to Acanthamoeba. Twenty-four out of 33 (72.72%) were less than 51 years of age (P<0.001). All patients were from rural areas (P<0.001) and 26 (78.79%) of them were agricultural workers (P=0.031). All 33 had history of corneal injury (P<0.001) and 28 (84.85%) patients had injury with mud (P<0.001). All 33 (100%) patients had previous medical treatment (P=0.009) and 10 (30.3%) had used traditional eye medicines (P=0.183). A clinical pattern of ring infiltrate was characteristic in 15 (45.45%) patients. The diameter of the corneal ulcer was more than 6 mm in 27 (81.82%) eyes (P<0.001). Twenty-six (78.79%) patients had visual acuity of perception of light on initial presentation (P<0.001) and 24 (72.73%) had the same as their final visual outcome. The sensitivity of 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) preparation was found to be higher (P<0.001) in the detection of Acanthamoeba cysts. CONCLUSION: The incidence of Acanthamoeba keratitis amongst the corneal ulcer patients was 1% in this setting and it was mainly due to corneal injury by mud. The KOH preparation is a sensitive diagnostic tool for the detection of Acanthamoeba. Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis and inappropriate antimicrobial therapy results in poor visual outcome.