Tetsuya Yamamoto1, Yasuaki Kuwayama, Kiyoshi Kano, Akira Sawada, Nobuyuki Shoji. 1. Department of Ophthalmology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, JapanDepartment of Ophthalmology, Osaka Koseinenkin Hospital, Osaka, JapanDepartment of Ophthalmology, Kitasato University Hospital, Sagamihara, Japan.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To present clinical features and microbial data for bleb-related infections obtained by the 5-year-long Japan Glaucoma Society Survey of Bleb-related Infection (JGSSBI). METHODS: This multicentre prospective observational study was conducted in 82 clinical centres in Japan. A total of 170 bleb-related infections developed in 157 eyes of 156 patients during a 5-year period. The ophthalmological and microbial data were analysed. RESULTS: The patient age at first infection was 59.3 ± 17.7 years [mean ± standard deviation (SD)], and the period between the last glaucoma surgery and the first infection was 6.9 ± 5.8 years (mean ± SD; range: 0.3-41 years). Bleb leakage was noted significantly more frequently in eyes with repeated infections. The stage of infection at diagnosis was stage I in 91 infections (54%), stage II in 30 infections (18%), stage IIIa in 18 infections (11%), and stage IIIb in 31 infections (18%). Staphylococcus species were the most frequently isolated microbe (41%), followed by Streptococcus species (32%). Streptococcus species, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Haemophilus influenzae, and Enterococcus species were the major bacteria isolated in the late-stage infections. CONCLUSIONS: The JGSSBI project has revealed several characteristics of bleb-related infection in Japan, which include the significance of bleb leakage in the development of repeated infections and the distribution of bacterial isolates.
PURPOSE: To present clinical features and microbial data for bleb-related infections obtained by the 5-year-long Japan Glaucoma Society Survey of Bleb-related Infection (JGSSBI). METHODS: This multicentre prospective observational study was conducted in 82 clinical centres in Japan. A total of 170 bleb-related infections developed in 157 eyes of 156 patients during a 5-year period. The ophthalmological and microbial data were analysed. RESULTS: The patient age at first infection was 59.3 ± 17.7 years [mean ± standard deviation (SD)], and the period between the last glaucoma surgery and the first infection was 6.9 ± 5.8 years (mean ± SD; range: 0.3-41 years). Bleb leakage was noted significantly more frequently in eyes with repeated infections. The stage of infection at diagnosis was stage I in 91 infections (54%), stage II in 30 infections (18%), stage IIIa in 18 infections (11%), and stage IIIb in 31 infections (18%). Staphylococcus species were the most frequently isolated microbe (41%), followed by Streptococcus species (32%). Streptococcus species, coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Haemophilus influenzae, and Enterococcus species were the major bacteria isolated in the late-stage infections. CONCLUSIONS: The JGSSBI project has revealed several characteristics of bleb-related infection in Japan, which include the significance of bleb leakage in the development of repeated infections and the distribution of bacterial isolates.