Susceptibility of bacterial endophthalmitis isolates to vancomycin, ceftazidime, and amikacin.

Bacterial endophthalmitis is a rare intraocular infection, and prompt administration of intravitreal antibiotics is crucial for preventing severe vision loss. The retrospective study is to investigate the in vitro susceptibility to the antibiotics vancomycin, amikacin, and ceftazidime of bacterial endophthalmitis isolates in specimens at a tertiary referral center from January 1996 to April 2019 in Taiwan. Overall, 450 (49.9%) isolates were Gram positive, 447 (49.6%) were Gram negative, and 4 (0.4%) were Gram variable. In Gram-positive isolates, coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most commonly cultured bacteria (158, 35.1%), followed by Streptococci (100, 22.2%), Enterococci (75, 16.7%), and Staphylococcus aureus (70, 15.6%). In Gram-negative isolates, they were Klebsiella pneumoniae (166, 37.1%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (131, 29.3%). All Gram-positive organisms were susceptible to vancomycin, with the exception of one Enterococcus faecium isolate (1/450, 0.2%). Of the Gram-negative isolates, 96.9% and 93.7% were susceptible to ceftazidime and amikacin, respectively. Nine isolates (9/447, 2.0%) were multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, comprising K. pneumoniae (4/164, 2.4%), Acinetobacter baumannii (2/3, 67%), and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (3/18, 17%). In conclusion, in vitro susceptibility testing revealed that vancomycin remains the suitable antibiotic treatment for Gram-positive endophthalmitis. Ceftazidime and amikacin provide approximately the same degree of Gram-negative coverage. Multidrug-resistant bacterial endophthalmitis was uncommon.

Medication Adherence in Patients With Glaucoma After Cancer Diagnosis.

PURPOSE: To determine the association between cancer diagnosis and medication adherence in patients with glaucoma. DESIGN: Cohort study. METHODS: Setting: Population-based. StudyPopulation: All patients with confirmed glaucoma in one or both eyes. All patients were aged 20 years or older. Patients who developed cancer within 2 year of a confirmed glaucoma diagnosis or who were dead within 2 year after a confirmed cancer diagnosis were excluded. Intervention orObservationProcedure(s): Individuals without cancer but with a confirmed glaucoma diagnosis were followed until they received a confirmed cancer diagnosis. They were then matched with a group of patients with confirmed glaucoma who did not develop cancer during the study period. MainOutcomeMeasure(s): Secondary adherence measured using medication possession ratio (MPR) at 1-year, 2-year, and 2-year-average intervals. RESULTS: For both patients with cancer and their matches, MPR was the highest when measured at 1-year intervals. MPR was 0.379 (95% CI: 0.370-0.388) for the cancer group and 0.313 (95% CI: 0.308-0.319) for the cancer-free group. MPR measured using 1-year intervals decreased by 17.4% after cancer diagnosis (P < .001). MPR measured using 2-year and 2-year-average intervals decreased by 10.4% (P < .001) and 9.21% (P < .001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer diagnosis leads to lower medication adherence in patients with glaucoma. To improve medication adherence in patients with glaucoma who also have cancer, policies should directly target the burden associated with having cancer that tends to create barriers for medication refills, rather than targeting risk factors that are also applicable to patients with glaucoma but without cancer.

Endophthalmitis Incidence of Cancer Patients After Cataract Surgery: A Nationwide Matched Cohort Study in Taiwan.

PURPOSE: To compare the incidence rate of endophthalmitis after cataract surgery between cancer cohort and matched noncancer cohort. DESIGN: Matched cohort study. METHODS: Patients with cataract surgery of both eyes among a nationwide cancer cohort and 1:1 matched noncancer cohort were enrolled from the years 1998 to 2012 in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Both the cancer group and the control group were followed for 3 months after the cataract surgery to obtain the rate of endophthalmitis. RESULTS: There were 23 362 patients each in the cancer cohort and in the matched noncancer cohort. The mean age of receiving first cataract surgery was 71 years. The mean duration of receiving cataract surgery was 4.3 years after cancer diagnosis. The mean duration between 2 cataract surgeries was 8-9 months. The rate of endophthalmitis within 3 months after cataract surgery was similar between the 2 study groups: 2.4‰ (95% confidence interval = 1.9‰-2.8‰) for the cancer group and 2.3‰ (95% confidence interval = 1.9‰-2.8‰) for the noncancer group, respectively (P = .892). CONCLUSIONS: Cancer patients have a similar risk of endophthalmitis following cataract surgery as the noncancer population, and the current study suggests that cataract surgery can be considered as appropriately indicated for cancer patients.

Antibiotic susceptibility profiles of ocular and nasal flora in patients undergoing cataract surgery in Taiwan: an observational and cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the conjunctival and nasal flora and the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of isolates from patients undergoing cataract surgery. DESIGN: Observational and cross-sectional study. SETTING: A single-centre study in Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: 128 consecutive patients precataract surgery. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES METHODS: Conjunctival and nasal cultures were prospectively obtained from 128 patients on the day of cataract surgery before instillation of ophthalmic solutions in our hospital. Isolates and antibiotic susceptibility profiles were identified through standard microbiological techniques. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire on healthcare-associated factors. RESULTS: The positive culture rate from conjunctiva was 26.6%, yielding 84 isolates. Coagulase-negative Staphylococci were the most commonly isolated organisms (45.2%), and 35% of staphylococcal isolates were methicillin-resistant. Among staphylococcal isolates, all were susceptible to vancomycin, and 75%-82.5% were susceptible to fluoroquinolones. Methicillin-resistant isolates were significantly less susceptible than their methicillin-sensitive counterparts to tobramycin, the most commonly used prophylactic antibiotic in our hospital (28.6% vs 69.2%; p=0.005). The positive culture rate from nares for Staphylococcus aureus was 21.9%, and six isolates were methicillin-resistant. No subjects had S. aureus colonisation on conjunctiva and nares simultaneously. There were no associated risk factors for colonisation of methicillin-resistant Staphylococci. CONCLUSION: The most common conjunctival bacterial isolate of patients undergoing cataract surgery was coagulase-negative Staphylococci in Taiwan. Because of predominant antibiotic preferences and selective antibiotic pressures, Staphylococci were more susceptible to fluoroquinolones but less to tobramycin than in other reports. Additionally, methicillin-resistant Staphylococci exhibited co-resistance to tobramycin but not to fluoroquinolones.