Endophthalmitis from contaminated donor corneas following penetrating keratoplasty
J. A. Cameron, S. R. Antonios, J. B. Cotter and N. R. Habash
King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
We encountered six (0.2%) cases of endophthalmitis resulting from
contaminated donor corneas between January 1983 and July 1990 following a
total of 3000 consecutive penetrating keratoplasties. Causative organisms
in the three cases of fungal endophthalmitis were Torulopsis glabrata,
Candida albicans, and Aspergillus flavus; the three cases of bacterial
endophthalmitis were due to Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus,
and Enterococcus faecalis. All organisms were resistant to gentamicin in
the preservation media. A significantly higher incidence of endophthalmitis
was noted in patients receiving corneas from a Sri Lankan eye bank (1.25%)
than in those receiving US eye bank tissue (0.14%). Donor rim cultures are
important to identify those patients at increased risk of developing
endophthalmitis, enabling earlier diagnosis and more specific treatment
should endophthalmitis occur.
