Clinical characteristics of endogenous Klebsiella pneumoniae endophthalmitis: a 13-year experience

Abstract

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the clinical features and risk factors for poor visual outcomes in patients with endogenous Klebsiella pneumoniae endophthalmitis (EKE). Methods This retrospective interventional case series reviewed the medical records of 17 patients (21 eyes) with EKE from January 2007 to December 2019. Clinical findings, treatments, visual outcomes, and potential prognostic factors were evaluated. Results The mean age of the patients was 55.9 years and 13 patients (76.5%) were males. Diabetes (23.5%) was the most commonly associated systemic disease and liver abscess (70.6%) was the major infection source. Poor initial visual acuity worse than counting fingers was significantly associated with poor final visual outcome (p = 0.003). In this study, adjunctive intravitreal dexamethasone injection and primary vitrectomy were not associated with final visual outcome. Secondary enucleation/evisceration was performed in 14.3%. Conclusions EKE usually has a poor visual prognosis, and early diagnosis with fair initial visual acuity would be crucial in saving vision.