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Ophthalmic Images
March 22, 2023

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Corneal Ulcer Associated With Artificial Tears Eye Drops

Author Affiliations
  • 1Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
  • 2University Hospitals Eye Institute and the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio
  • 3Department of Ophthalmology, Assiut Medical School, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
JAMA Ophthalmol. 2023;141(5):496. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.1105

A 72-year-old woman presented with vision loss in the left eye for 1 week. She reported use of over-the-counter (OTC) multiuse eye drops for bilateral dry eye syndrome. Physical examination was notable for visual acuity of light perception (LP) and a hypopyon filling the anterior chamber (Figure, A) with an epithelial defect (Figure, B) involving most of the cornea. Examination of the right eye was unremarkable. Culture of left corneal scrapings grew extensively drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, susceptible only to cefiderocol. Culture of her OTC EzriCare artificial tears grew comparable drug-resistant P aeruginosa. She was treated with intravenous cefiderocol, topical imipenem/cilistatin, and topical polymyxin B/trimethroprim. Her course was complicated by a serous choroidal detachment detected by B-scan ultrasonography. At 2-month follow up, left-sided vision remained LP. On February 1, 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory1 regarding more than 50 similar infections associated with OTC artificial tears.

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