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| LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 60
| Issue : 4 | Page : 336 |
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Role of potassium hydroxide preparation in the management of mycotic corneal ulcers
Amit Agarwal1, Rachna Agarwal2
1 Cornea and Anterior Segment, Agarwal Netralaya, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
2 Department of Neuroophthalmology (Neurosurgery), Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| Date of Web Publication | 19-Jul-2012 |
Correspondence Address:
Amit Agarwal
Agarwal Netralaya, D.A.V. College Market, Aishbagh Road, Lucknow - 226 004
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0301-4738.98732
How to cite this article:
Agarwal A, Agarwal R. Role of potassium hydroxide preparation in the management of mycotic corneal ulcers. Indian J Ophthalmol 2012;60:336 |
How to cite this URL:
Agarwal A, Agarwal R. Role of potassium hydroxide preparation in the management of mycotic corneal ulcers. Indian J Ophthalmol [serial online] 2012 [cited 2020 Aug 9];60:336. Available from: http://www.ijo.in/text.asp?2012/60/4/336/98732 |
Dear Editor,
This refers to a well-drafted article by Nath et al., published in a recent issue of the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. [1] We would like to draw attention to a few points. In the presented study, the authors found the presence of fungal elements by 10% KOH smear in only 65.2% cases, which is quite less than our practical experience and from the results of other studies.
Sharma et al., [2] found fungal filaments in 100% and 81.2% of the corneal scrapings by the KOH method in the two phases of their study, while Gopinathan et al., [3] found it to be 91% in their study. In most of the private practitioners and smaller centers where culture facilities are not available, KOH smear is the only reliable and easy-to-use diagnostic tool, and it works in 90-95% of the cases.
Secondly, the treatment of perforated fungal ulcers needs to be separated from the ulcers without perforations, as the eye can sometimes be saved only by therapeutic keratoplasty, [4] although in smaller perforations cyanoacrylate glue also works very well. [5]
| References | |  |
| 1. | Nath R, Baruah S, Saikia L, Devi B, Borthakur AK, Mahanta J. Mycotic corneal ulcers in upper Assam. Indian J Ophthalmol 2011;59:367-71.  [ PUBMED]  |
| 2. | Sharma S, Silverberg M, Mehta P, Gopinathan U, Agarwal V, Naduvilath TJ. Early diagnosis of mycotic keratitis: Predictive value of potassium hydroxide preparation. Indian J Ophthalmol 1998;46:31-5. [ PUBMED] |
| 3. | Gopinathan U, Garg P, Fernandes M, Sharma S, Athmanathan S, Rao GN. The epidemiological features and laboratory results of fungal keratitis: A 10-year review at a referral eye care center in South India. Cornea 2002;21:555-9. |
| 4. | Sony P, Sharma N, Vajpayee RB, Ray M. Therapeutic keratoplasty for infectious keratitis: A review of the literature. CLAO J 2002;28:111-8. [ PUBMED] |
| 5. | Garg P, Gopinathan U, Nutheti R, Rao GN. Clinical experience with N-butyl cyanoacrylate tissue adhesive in fungal keratitis. Cornea 2003;22:405-8. [ PUBMED] |
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