Abstract
PURPOSE:: Management of acanthamoeba keratitis remains challenging for ophthalmologists. We conducted a survey of members of The Cornea Society to elicit expert opinions on the diagnosis and treatment of acanthamoeba keratitis. METHODS:: An online survey was sent to all subscribers of The Cornea Society via the kera-net listserv. Descriptive statistics were performed. RESULTS:: Eighty-two participants completed the online survey. Of the 82 respondents, 76.8% included the combination of clinical examination and culture in their diagnostic strategy and 43.9% used confocal microscopy. Most respondents (97.6%) had used combination therapy with multiple agents to treat acanthamoeba keratitis at some point in the past, whereas a smaller proportion (47.6%) had ever used monotherapy. Respondents most commonly chose polyhexamethylene biguanide as the ideal choice for monotherapy (51.4%), and dual therapy with a biguanide and diamidine as the ideal choice for combination therapy (37.5%). The majority of respondents (62.2%) reported using topical corticosteroids at least some of the time for acanthamoeba keratitis. Keratoplasty was an option considered by most respondents (75.6%), although most (85.5%) would only perform surgery after medical treatment failure. CONCLUSIONS:: There was a wide range of current practice patterns for the diagnosis and treatment of acanthamoeba keratitis. The lack of sufficiently powered comparative effectiveness studies and clinical trials makes evidence-based decision-making for this disease difficult.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1363-1368 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Cornea |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2011 |
Keywords
- Bayesian
- combination therapy
- corticosteroids
- keratoplasty
- monotherapy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ophthalmology