Emergence of Enterococcus species in the infectious microorganisms cultured from patients with endophthalmitis in South Korea

• Published in: Infection Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 113 - 118
• Main Authors: Kim, H. W., Kim, S. Y., Chung, I. Y., Lee, Joo Eun, Lee, Ji Eun, Park, Jung Min, Park, Jong Moon, Han, Y. S., Oum, B. S., Byon, I. S., Yun, I. H., Yoon, H. S., Park, D., Jeong, W. J., Yu, B. C., Park, I., Bae, T., Nam, K. Y., Lee, S. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Bacterial Infections - epidemiology; Bacterial Infections - microbiology; Clinical and Epidemiological Study; Endophthalmitis - epidemiology; Endophthalmitis - microbiology; Family Medicine; General Practice; Gram-Negative Bacteria - classification; Gram-Negative Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Negative Bacteria - isolation & purification; Gram-Positive Bacteria - classification; Gram-Positive Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Positive Bacteria - isolation & purification; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Internal Medicine; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Microorganisms; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Republic of Korea; Endophthalmitis; Postoperative endophthalmitis; Posttraumatic endophthalmitis; Endogenous endophthalmitis
• ISSN: 0300-8126; 1439-0973
• DOI: 10.1007/s15010-013-0530-z

Purpose To investigate the microorganisms in culture-proven endophthalmitis and their susceptibilities to antimicrobial agents commonly used in South Korea. Methods Medical records of consecutive patients with culture-proven endophthalmitis at eight institutions between 1 January 2004 and 31 July 31 2010 were reviewed. Four categories of endophthalmitis were studied: postoperative, posttraumatic, endogenous, and unspecified. Outcome measures were culture-proven infectious organisms, antimicrobial susceptibilities, and final visual acuity in the patients. Results A total of 93 microorganisms were identified from 103 patients during the study period. The positive culture rate was 59.2 % (103/174). The most common organisms identified were Enterococcus faecalis (in 20.8 % of patients, 20/96), Staphylococcus epidermidis (18.8 %, 18/96), other coagulase-negative staphylococci (10.4 %, 10/96), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.3 %, 6/96), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (6.3 %, 6/96). Two cases of Enterococcus faecium (2.1 %) were recognized. Overall, 70 of 96 (73.0 %) isolates were Gram-positive bacteria, 22 (23.0 %) were Gram-negative bacteria, and 4 (4.2 %) were fungi. The most common organisms resulting in reduced light perception were E. faecalis and K. pneumoniae . Conclusions The emergence of E . faecalis in endophthalmitis is mainly caused by the high incidence of E. faecalis in postoperative endophthalmitis. This increase also impacts the final visual acuity of the patients.