Spectrum of mycotic keratitis in north India: Sixteen years study from a tertiary care ophthalmic centre

Abstract

Introduction: To analyse the fungal culture results of patients with fungal keratitis over sixteen years and look for variations in the trends over years and distribution across ages, gender and seasons. Materials and methods: Clinical and demographic records and microbiology reports of 18,898 patients of fungal keratitis from 2001 to 2016 were analysed. Results: Overall fungal culture positivity was 21.5%. 67.3% were males and 32.7% were females. Maximum numbers of samples (17.9%) were received from age group 41–50 years, and maximum fungal culture positivity was seen in age group 31–40 years (30.8%). Most common fungus was Aspergillus species (31.1%), followed by Fusarium species (24.5%), Alternaria (10.5%), Curvularia (10.2%), Helminthosporium (5.7%), Bipolaris (5.4%), Penicillium (4.5%), Candida (4.4%), Acremonium (1.2%), Rhizopus (1.0%), Paecilomyces (0.8%), Rhodotorula (0.5%) and Mucor (0.2%). Fungal culture positivity and relative frequency of fungi remained almost stable over the study duration, except Rhodotorula spp, which showed a rise 2014 onwards. Highest numbers of culture proven fungal keratitis cases were seen in monsoon season. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, our study is the largest compilation of epidemiological and microbiological features of fungal keratitis, throwing light on important attributes relevant to management of mycotic keratitis patients. Keywords: Keratomycosis, Fungal culture, Corneal scraping, Pathogenic fungi