Evaluation of 292 ocular swabs, vitreous and aqueous cultures in pathologies with severe prognosis during a 24-month observation period

Introduction. Different part of the eye can be infected by bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses (5). The aim of this study was to assess the importance of ocular swabs culture in pathologies with severe prognosis. Methods.We examined 292 patients with a severe diseases: 98% of those used topical and/or systemic antibiotic therapy.All sample were cultured both into a chocolate agar medium and into an Haemophilus selective agar and, at the same time, inoculated onto a modified blood cuture. Results. 75 out of 292 (25.7%) patients tested negative.The most representative microorganisms were: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) (20%), Staphylococcus aureus (12%), member of the Pseudomonadaceae family (10.9%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (9%), alpha haemolytic streptococci (8.2%), Fungus and Yeast (5.4%). Considering the type of cultures: 54.5% of the vitreous cultures were positive and 45.5% were negative; 38.2% of the positive cultures were referred to endophthalmitis, with prevalence of CNS (32.5%) and S. aureus (22.9%), while 27.6% were due to an abscesces, with prevalence of members of the Pseudomonadaceae family (53.3%), CNS (23.3%) and S. pneumoniae (16.7%). Conclusions. This data suggest the importance of the ocular swabs, vitreous and aqueous cultures in the therapeutic approach of the diseases with a severe prognosis and emphasize the good performance of the modified Bactec Plus system.