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2012 OMIG Abstract 20

Intramural Deposition of Alexidine Into Heated Bausch & Lomb ReNu Plastic Bottles and the Worldwide Fusarium Keratitis Epidemic of 2004-2006
J. Bullock, B.L. Elder, R.E. Warwar, H.J. Khamis. Wright State University, Departments of Community Health, Mathematics and Statistics, Ophthalmology, and Pathology, Kettering, OH

Purpose: To determine the exact mechanism of the worldwide Fusarium keratitis epidemic of 2004-06.

Methods: Quantification by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (LCMS) of alexidine after storage of a 0.00045% solution at room temperature and 133^oF in ReNu bottles for 4 weeks; quantification by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy for residual alexidine after methanol extraction of bottle walls of heated/unheated ReNu bottles, previously containing alexidine, 0.00045%, and stored for 4 weeks.

Results: By LCMS, unheated solution samples had 2.8 times more alexidine than heated samples; by FTIR, heated bottle wall samples had 3-3.6 times more alexidine than unheated bottle wall samples.

Conclusion: With elevated temperature storage, alexidine migrates and deposits into the ReNu bottle wall, resulting in decreased alexidine concentration, rendering the solution less capable of disinfecting Fusarium at point-of-use exposure.

Disclosure: N

2012 Agenda and Abstracts | < Previous | Next >