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2012 Agenda and Abstracts | < Previous | Next > 2012 OMIG Abstract 16 Confocal Microscopy Findings of Bacterial, Fungal, and Acanthamoeba Keratitis in Human Eyebank Corneas Purpose: To determine if confocal findings in eye bank corneas inoculated with bacterial, fungal, and Acanthamoeba organisms substantiate previously published in vivo confocal findings of infectious keratitis. Methods: Human eye bank corneas not suitable for transplantation were inoculated intrastromally with approximately 106 organisms/ml suspensions of Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, Fusarium species, and Acanthamoeba. The corneas were then incubated at 37°C and were checked regularly until a clinically apparent stromal infiltrate appeared. The infected corneas were then mounted on an artificial anterior chamber (Moria, Doylestown, PA) and were examined with confocal microscopy using the Confoscan 3 (Nidek, Fremont, CA). Confocal findings were documented for each pathogen and compared longitudinally to elucidate the timing of microscopy findings. Results: Hyphae and cyst elements on confocal microscopy were observed on the corneas inoculated with fungal species and Acanthamoeba, respectively. These images were similar to those published in the confocal microscopy literature. There were no specific confocal findings observed in the corneas inoculated with S. aureus. Conclusions: Inoculation of human eye bank corneas is a useful model in corroborating specific confocal findings in fungal and Acanthamoeba keratitis. This study suggests that confocal examination of infectious keratitis in known fungal and Acanthamoeba keratitis demonstrates distinct clinical morphologies and that confocal microscopy is a useful adjunct to the diagnosis of atypical keratitis before culture results are available. Disclosure: N 2012 Agenda and Abstracts | < Previous | Next >
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