Acute endophthalmitis after cataract surgery: a 10-year review (2003 – 2013)

Authors

  • Allie Lee Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
  • Andy CO Cheng Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China
  • Ben NM Lam Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, China

Abstract

 Aims: Acute endophthalmitis is a potentially sight- threatening complication of cataract surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence, microbiology and clinical outcomes of patients with post-cataract surgery endophthalmitis in a public hospital in Hong Kong.

Methods: This was a retrospective case series that reviewed patients who underwent cataract surgery and were diagnosed to have acute postoperative endophthalmitis between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2013 at the Hong Kong Eye Hospital. Main outcome measures were incidence, culture results and visual acuity at the final visit.

Results: A total of 31 patients were diagnosed with acute postoperative endophthalmitis out of 46,564 cataract surgeries performed over 10 years. The mean annual incidence rate was 0.067%. A positive culture was found in 72.4% of the intraocular samples. The yield of anterior chamber and vitreous tapping was 39.3% and 57.1%, respectively. Over 95% of isolates were Gram- positive organisms and the most common pathogen was coagulase-negative staphylococcus. At the last follow-up (mean, 28.4 months; range, 2.1-86.3 months), over two-thirds of the patients achieved a visual acuity of 0.3 or more. Presenting visual acuity was positively associated with final visual outcome (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The results of this 10-year review may serve as a reference for local data on acute endophthalmitis after cataract surgery for other centres and future studies.

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Published

2014-12-01

How to Cite

1.
Lee A, Cheng AC, Lam BN. Acute endophthalmitis after cataract surgery: a 10-year review (2003 – 2013). Hong Kong J Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2014Dec.1 [cited 2025Feb.10];18(1):20-5. Available from: https://hkjo.hk/index.php/hkjo/article/view/24

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Original Articles