Improved Therapeutic Regimens for Treatment of Post-Traumatic Ocular Infections; Annual rept. 15 Apr 2007-14 Apr 2008

摘要

Greater than 10% of battlefield injuries occur to the eyes, resulting in significant morbidity. The potential for ocular infection by trauma is high, due to the types of organisms encountered in arid environments and the delay between time of injury and adequate treatment. This proposal was designed to analyze the effectiveness of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and non-conventional agents targeting bacterial and host virulence factors, with the goal of improving the outcome of infections that would otherwise result in significant vision loss. The first year results highlight the need for prompt and aggressive therapy (intravitreal administration) in preventing inflammation and vision loss. Delays in treatment result in vision loss, but may not result in loss of globe architecture. The use of anti-inflammatory agents with antibiotics for intraocular infections has been controversial, and our results add little to clarify whether these drugs are of any benefit during therapy. These studies have provided new information on improvements in treatment regimens that preserve vision and ocular architecture. Further analysis of conventional and non-conventional therapies will identify those that may be implemented for future treatment of blinding bacterial infections of the eye.