Bacterial Keratitis in Type 1 Diabetic Patients: Course and Consequences

The purpose was to define the peculiarities of the course and consequences of bacterial keratitis in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1) depending on the stage of its severity. Methods. 34 DM1 patients (34 eyes) with bacterial keratitis whose initial bacteriological examination revealed pathogen sensitivity to the antibiotic ofloxacin participated in this study. All patients were treated topically with ofloxacin, antiseptics, repairing agents, antioxidants, mydriatics, artificial tears and systemically with anti-inflammatory agents. Patients were divided into two groups according to the severity of bacterial keratitis at the first visit. Research methods were as follows: visual acuity, tonometry, slit-lamp biomicroscopy of anterior and posterior eye segments, fluorescein dye test, non-contact corneal esthesiometry, anterior eye OCT and bacteriological studies. Results. Compared to the stage I, DM1 patients with stage II severity bacterial keratitis showed higher degree of pericorneal injection, larger and deeper corneal ulcer defect, deeper corneal infiltration and edema, higher mean corneal sensitivity threshold at all time point of the study, p<0.05. DM1 patients with stage II severity bacterial keratitis were more prone for longer duration of the disease and worse consequences. Therefore, on day 24 in 33.3% diabetic patients with stage II severity bacterial keratitis corneal ulcer was not found to be healed. Conclusions. Course and consequences of bacterial keratitis in type 1 diabetes mellitus patients depend on the stage of severity of bacterial keratitis.