Suture-wick endophthalmitis with sutured posterior chamber intraocular lenses

A patient had a corneal transplant with removal of an anterior chamber lens. As part of the procedure, an exchange posterior chamber lens was inserted and sutured transsclerally into the ciliary sulcus with two subconjunctival 10-0 polypropylene (Prolene) sutures. One month later the patient experienced a sudden decrease in vision and severe eye pain. Streptococcus viridans was cultured from the vitreous tap and the eye eventually was lost from this endophthalmitis. The infecting organism appeared to gain access to the eye through one of the Prolene sutures that had eroded through the conjunctiva and become exteriorized. This report presents a case in which an eroding 10-0 Prolene suture used for transscleral posterior chamber lens fixation was the probable mechanism causing endophthalmitis. This complication represents an avoidable risk unique to this type of intraocular lens fixation.