Serratia marcescens corneal ulcer as a complication of orthokeratology

PURPOSE: To report a case of Serratia Marcescens corneal ulcer as a complication of orthokeratology treatment. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 9-year,old male who underwent orthokeratology treatment for 6 months suffered from a corneal ulcer. The refractive state of lesion eye was -5.5D/-1.25D X 180 degrees, and visual acuity was hand motion at 30 cm. He wore a retainer lens, rigid gas permeable lens, overnight for 2 months before the corneal ulcer occurred. Ulcer became worse after tobramycin and gentamycin treatment for 2 days. After ciprofloxacin treatment, the ulcer healed and visual acuity recovered to 20/20 with spectacle correction. Cultures of the cornea tissue and contact lens storage solution both grew Serratia Marcescens, Which was sensitive to ciprofloxacin. CONCLUSION: Overnight wearing of a rigid contact lens is a risk factor for a corneal ulcer. (C) 2001 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.