Abstract
Purpose :
Despite being a preventable and treatable condition, microbial keratitis (MK) and its complications remain to be a significant cause of vision loss in the country. This study aimed to present a more recent picture of the demographic profile, microbial isolates, and risk factors for the development of MK in the Philippines, and to describe its practice patterns and outcomes.
Methods :
The study was a two-center, prospective non-randomized clinical study involving the patients of the External Disease and Cornea Clinics of two tertiary eye centers in the Philippines. Patients who consented with a presumed clinical diagnosis of MK by an external disease and cornea specialist was recruited into the study. All patients were followed-up for 6 months. Data collected included demographics, risk factors, culture results, management, and treatment outcomes. Descriptive statistics and frequency were used to analyze the data.
Results :
348 patients diagnosed with MK were included. Trauma (65.5%) among the middle-aged (42.9 ± 17.9 years) male population was the most significant risk factor for development of MK followed by contact lens wear (12.9%), prior ocular surgery (6.0%), and ocular surface diseases (3.4%). Bacterial keratitis (53.2%) was still the most common etiology of MK followed by fungal keratitis (27.0%), acanthamoeba keratitis (5.7%), and viral keratitis (2.0%). Aspergillus species (18.3%) were the most common microbial isolate because of the widespread use prophylactic antibiotics after traumatic eye injury. Pseudomonas species (13.9%) were the most common bacterial isolate. Medical treatment was enough to treat the infection in 34.8%. Surgical intervention was necessitated in 22.6% with evisceration/enucleation done in 1 out of 3 patients.
Conclusions :
Bacterial keratitis remained to be the most common cause of MK in the Philippines. Trauma and contact lens usage were significant risk factors for the development of MK with subsequent vision loss. Despite early and aggressive medical treatment, a large number still required surgical intervention.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.