TRENDS OF FUNGAL KERATITIS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN TRIPURA

Pradip Kumar Das; Amar Kanti Chakma

Volume : VI, Issue : I, January - 2016

TRENDS OF FUNGAL KERATITIS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN TRIPURA

Pradip Kumar Das, Amar Kanti Chakma

Abstract :

Aim : To study the trends of fungal Keratitis in a tertiary care hospital of Tripura. Materials and Methods: In this study 100 numbers of corneal scrapings were collected from patients presented in the department of ophthalmology since 1/11/2013 to 31/10/2014, with the clinical diagnosis of corneal ulcer with or without hypopyon were subjected for microbial investigation to find out the etiological agents.Result & observation: Out of 100 cases 63% were found to be culture positive, of this 36 (57.1%) patients had bacterial growth,27(42.9%) had fungal growth and 06(9.5%) cases had mixed bacterial and fungal growth. The Males are the more preponderant sex group accounts 68% . Staphylococcus aureus was the most commonly isolated bacterial organism (25.4 %) followed by Staphylococcus epidermidis(07) (11.1%), Escherichiae coli(05)(7.9%), Pseudomonas spp (04)(6.3%), Klebsiella spp(03)(4.7%)and Acinetobater spp(01)(1.6%) the most frequently occurring gram–negative organism. . Aspergillus spp (Aspergillus flavus, fumigates & niger) were the major fungal etiological accounts 15.9% of the total 27 (42.7 % ) fungal corneal ulcers followed by Candida albicans(07), Fusarium solani(04), Penicillium species(02), Rhodotorula spp(01)& Trichosporon spp(01). Conclusion: Mycotic keratitis will continue to be an important cause for ocular morbidity despite of bacterial agent. Clinical suspicion by the ophthalmologists should be confirmed by microbiological finding prior to initiating corticosteroids and anti–bacterial antibiotics. Precise identification of the causative fungus and institution of appropriate treatment strategy could save the blindness of the eye.