Differentiation of acanthamoeba keratitis from other non-acanthamoeba keratitis: Risk factors and clinical features

• Published in: PloS one 2024-03, Vol.19 (3), p.e0299492-e0299492
• Main Authors: Alreshidi, Shaker Osaywid, Vargas, José Manuel, Ahmad, Khabir, Alothman, Ahmed Yousef, Albalawi, Eman D, Almulhim, Abdulmohsen, Alenezi, Saad Hamdan, ALBalawi, Hani Basher, Alali, Naif Mamdouh, Hashem, Faris, Aljindan, Mohanna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acanthamoeba Keratitis - epidemiology; Antifungal agents; Bacterial Infections - complications; Biology and Life Sciences; Care and treatment; Contact Lenses - adverse effects; Cornea; Development and progression; Diagnosis; Disease susceptibility; Endothelium; Evaluation; Female; Health aspects; Humans; Infection; Keratitis; Male; Medical research; Medical screening; Medicine and Health Sciences; Medicine, Experimental; Ophthalmology; Physical Sciences; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299492

Infectious Keratitis is one of the most common ocular emergencies seen by ophthalmologists. Our aim is to identify the risk factors and clinical features of Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK). This retrospective chart review study was conducted at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and included all the microbial keratitis cases, male and female patients of all ages. The main outcome is the differentiation between various microbial keratitis types. We included 134 consecutive eyes of 126 persons. We had 24 cases of acanthamoeba keratitis, 22 bacterial keratitis, 24 fungal keratitis, 32 herpetic keratitis, and 32 bacterial co-infection. Contact lens wear was found in 33 eyes (24.6%). Among acanthamoeba keratitis patients, 73% were ≤ 39 years of age, and 73% were females (P