Bacterial adherence to polymethylmethacrylate posterior chamber intra ocular lenses.
OBJECTIVE
Bacterial adherence to intraocular lenses (IOLs) has been incriminated in the pathogenesis of postoperative endophthalmitis. Staphylococcus epidermidis is the most common organism isolated. We studied the in-vitro adhesion of Staphylococcus epidermidis to Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) IOLs and the effect of duration of exposure to adherence.


METHODS
Two groups of 10 IOLs each were incubated in Staphylococcus epidermidis suspension for 2 minutes and 20 minutes respectively. Adhesion of bacterial cells was determined by counting the number of viable bacteria attached to IOLs.


RESULTS
The mean bacterial adherence with 2 minutes incubation was 12,889 +/- 7,150 bacteria/ IOL and with 20 minutes incubation was 84,226 +/- 35,024 bacteria/IOL (P< 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that Staphylococcus epidermidis adheres to PMMA IOLs in vitro and the degree of adherence is less for shorter duration of exposure. We conclude that viable bacteria irreversibly adherent to IOLs may play a role in the pathogenesis of postoperative endophthalmitis. Shorter duration of operative manipulation and exposure to contaminating sources may decrease the chances of postoperative endophthalmitis.
Tyagi
S
S
Department of Ophthalmology and Microbiology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.
Ram
J
J
Ray
P
P
Brar
G S
GS
Gupta
A
A
D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007910:Lenses, Intraocular / Q000382:microbiology*; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*
D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate