Posters

Clinical characteristics and microbiological findings in patients with microbial keratitis admitted to a university hospital in Coventry

Poster Details

First Author: M.Ahmad UK

Co Author(s): A. Barua                    

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To analyse the clinical and microbiological findings in patients with severe microbial keratitis admitted to a tertiary referral centre in the UK.

Setting:

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry, West Midlands, UK

Methods:

A retrospective study of all cases of suspected microbial keratitis requiring hospital admission between 1st of April 2016 to 31st of March 2017 was performed. The recorded data included risk factors, disease patterns, and clinical outcomes.

Results:

34 patients were admitted with suspected microbial keratitis. Corneal scrapes were performed on all patients. Microorganisms were isolated in 76% of the patients (n=26). Pseudomonas species were the most commonly isolated organism (31%, n=8), followed by Moraxella (19%), Staphylococci (19%) and Fusarium (11.5%). Medical treatment was successful in 65% of the patients whereas secondary surgical procedures were required in the remaining 35% of the patients. These included glue repair of corneal perforation (29%), lateral tarsorrhaphy (15%), penetrating keratoplasty (6%) and evisceration (6%).

Conclusions:

Pseudomonas was the most common cause of microbial keratitis in this study. Surgical intervention was required in over one-third of the patients with almost 30% developing corneal perforation, indicating the severity of disease observed. Incidence of fungal keratitis also appears to be increasing. Early diagnosis and treatment, including prompt hospital admission, are important for successful treatment of these patients.

Financial Disclosure:

None