Acanthamoeba keratitis related to contact lens use in a tertiary hospital in China

Abstract

Background: To report the clinical and microbiological features of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) related to contact lens use in a tertiary hospital in China.Methods: In this retrospective study, the medical results of 61 cases of AK related to contact lens use from January 2000 to December 2017 were reviewed. The data included patients' demographics, lens type, history, risk factors, disease stages, corneal scraping and culture reports, and treatments.Moreover, genotypic identification of some of the isolates was carried out with a PCR assay and sequence analysis of the 18S ribosomal DNA gene.Results: There were 64 eyes included in the study. A total of 32.8% of the patients wore soft contact lenses, and 67.2% of patients used overnight orthokeratology. In the cases (20 eyes) in the early stage, 65% (13 eyes) had positive results according to Giemsa-stained smears, and 0.9% sodium chloride (NaCl) wet mounts revealed trophozoites in 7 eyes (35%). Six eyes (30%) were diagnosed by confocal microscopy combined with clinical signs. In the orthokeratology patients, 87.8% (36/41)