SUMMARY
Purpose:
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the incidence; risk factors involved and consequences of infectious keratitis after keratoplasty.
Patients and Methods:
We reviewed retrospectively the medical records of 255 patients who were submitted to peretrating keratoplasty between January 1995 and June 1997 at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo - UNIFESP-EPM. lncidence, risk factors, interval between surgery and infection, microorganism isolated and visual outcome were analyzed.
Results:
Ten out of 255 patients (3.9%) developed infection afte r penetrating keratoplasty; main risk factors were related to suture, dry eye, herpes keratitis and persistent epithelial defects; Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus were the most frequent agents. Visual acuity was severely reduced in 80% of the cases.
Conclusion:
The development of infection after corneal transplantation involves multiple factors and those related to suture are the most frequent. This complication of penetrating keratoplasty although not common, leads to high ocular morbidity and therefore demands early recognition and agressive treatment.
Keywords:
Penetrating keratoplasty; lnfection