Role of Moxifloxacin in Bacterial Keratitis

Abstract

Purpose: To study the safety and efficacy of Moxifloxacin in bacterial keratitis.

Material and Methods: The study was conducted in the department of Ophthalmology, Lahore General Hospital and Civil Hospital, Karachi from February 2007 to June 2007. The study consisted of two arms. The first arm had 13 diagnosed cases of bacterial keratitis were enrolled in this quasi-experimental study. They were diagnosed by microscopy, culture and sensitivity of corneal scrapings. The second arm consisted of 10 cases of keratitis that were culture and microscopy negative and had been resistant to all treatment.

Results: Out of the 13 diagnosed cases of bacterial keratitis, 7 cases had treatment success while 6 cases had treatment failure. The second arm of the study consisted of 10 cases of bacterial keratitis, which were culture and sensitivity negative. All these 10 cases showed treatment success. Collectively, 17 out of 23 patients of keratitis had treatment success. They showed improvement in signs and symptoms with corneal re-epithelization within 1 to 4 weeks of initiation of the treatment. 6 out of 23 patients showed treatment failure. Out of these 6, 2 had corneal perforation and 1 had endophthalmitis within 3 to 7 days of initiation of therapy.

Conclusion: 74% of the patients had treatment success with monotherapy with Moxifloxacin eye drops. Moxifloxacin has been shown to be safe and effective in treatment of bacterial keratitis.