Treatment of Corneal Infections Utilizing an Ocular Wound Chamber

To demonstrate that the ocular wound chamber (OWC) can be used for the treatment of bacterial keratitis (BK).

A blepharotomy was performed on anesthetized, hairless guinea pigs to induce exposure keratopathy 72 hours before corneal wound creation and Pseudomonas aeruginosa inoculation. Twenty-four hours postinoculation, eyes were treated with an OWC filled with 500 µL 0.5% moxifloxacin hydrochloride ophthalmic solution (OWC), 10 µL 0.5% moxifloxacin hydrochloride drops (DROPS) four times daily, or not treated (NT). White light, fluorescein, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images; ocular and periocular tissues samples for colony-forming units (CFU) quantification; and plasma samples were collected at 24 and 72 hours posttreatment.

White light, fluorescein, and SD-OCT imaging suggests OWC-treated eyes are qualitatively healthier than those in DROPS or NT groups. At 24 hours, the median number of CFUs (interquartile range) measured was 0 (0-8750), 150,000 (106,750-181,250), and 8750 (2525-16,000) CFU/mL for OWC, NT, and DROPS, respectively. While 100% of NT and DROPS animals remained infected at 24 hours, only 25% of OWC-treated animals showed infection. Skin samples at 24 hours showed infection percentages of 50%, 75%, and 0% in DROPS, NT, and OWC groups, respectively. OWC-treated animals had higher moxifloxacin plasma concentrations at 24 and 72 hours than those treated with drops.

OWC use resulted in a more rapid decrease of CFUs when compared to DROPS or NT groups and was associated with qualitatively healthier ocular and periocular tissue.

The OWC could be used clinically to continuously and rapidly deliver antimicrobials to infected ocular and periocular tissues, effectively lowering bacterial bioburdens and mitigating long-term complications.