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Contact lens cultures may help determine cause of corneal infections
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Contact lens cultures may assist ophthalmologists in identifying the organism involved in cases of microbial keratitis, according to a study by researchers in Australia. Such cultures may also help in choosing appropriate antimicrobial therapy, the authors noted.
Sujata Das, MS, FRCS, and colleagues investigated the association between 50 culture results from corneal scrapings and contact lenses of 49 patients with contact lens-related microbial keratitis. All patients were treated at Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne between January 2001 and December 2004, according to the study.
Corneal scrapings were culture positive in 17 eyes (34%) and contact lenses were culture positive in 35 eyes (70%), the authors reported.
In 13 eyes, corneal scrapings and contact lenses yielded identical organisms. Serratia marcescens was the most common organism isolated from both the corneal scraping and contact lens cultures, they reported.
The study is published in the September issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.