Sunday, July 29, 2007
P51

Interactions of different disinfectant solutions with hydrogel contact lenses and Fusarium spp.: development of a challenge test

Shangtong Zhang1, Donald G. Ahearn1, Robert B. Simmons1, R. Doyle Stulting2, Brian L. Schwam3, George E. Pierce1, and Sidney A. Crow1. (1) Biology, Georgia State University, 24 Peachtree Center Ave, Atlanta, GA 30303, (2) Healthcare Eye Center, Emory University, 1365B Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, (3) Private Practice, 1550 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32204

Recently about 250 cases of rare keratitis caused by Fusarium solani and F. oxysporum were associated worldwide with contact lens wear.  The interactions of multipurpose contact lens solutions (MPS) with the fusaria and the various hydrogel lenses are mainly unknown. This report examines procedures for determining the relative susceptibilities of hydrogel lenses to fungal attachment and penetration and the relative disinfection efficacies of representative MPS. Select hydrogel contact lenses inoculated with Fusarium spp. (104 conidia/ml) were suspended in various MPS, buffered saline and Sabourauds (SAB) broth combinations. Growth of Fusarium in lenses treated with MPS was examined with light microscopy for fungal development. Lenses of 35%-40% water content with plasma-treated surfaces and sorbed SAB were penetrated within 2 to 4 d.  Penetration of all other lenses occurred at times between 7 to 60 d. Disinfection solutions, dependent upon lens type and fungal strain, varied in their capacities to delay or inhibit growth of Fusarium. Representatives of both the F. solani and the F. oxysporum complexes should be employed in the development of tests to evaluate the efficacies and interactions of different lens types and disinfection solutions with Fusarium spp. Because of significantly different interactions of representatives of the two complexes with hydrogel contact lenses, no single standard protocol can be applied in a screening test for lens penetration.

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