Nilay et al. European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences www.ejbps.com 259 A STUDY ON BACTERIAL ISOLATES FROM DACRYOCYSTITIS PATIENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL Nilay Chatterjee *1 , Pinaki Biswas 1 , Dr. Kumkum Bhattacharyya 2 , Dr. Saurabh Laskar 3 , Dr. Anita Nandi (Mitra) 4 1 Department of Microbiology, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan – 713104. 2 Department of Microbiology, Murshidabad Medical College, Murshidabad – 742101. 3 Department of Microbiology, R. G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata – 700004. 4 Department of Microbiology, Kolkata Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata – 700073. Article Received on 01/11/2015 Article Revised on 22/11/2015 Article Accepted on 12/12/2015 INTRODUCTION Dacryocystitis is one of the most common diseases of the eye. It is an important cause of ocular morbidity both in children and adult. [1] Dacryocystitis is an inflammation of the lacrimal sac. It may be congenital and acquired. Acquired dacryocystitis are of 2 categories: acute and chronic. [2] Congenital dacryocystitis develop due to obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct, the block usually being due to the presence of epithelial debris or a membranous occlusion of the lower third of nasolacrimal duct. Blockage of the duct leads to stasis of the lacrimal fluid which harbors many organisms leading to infection. The obstruction may be unilateral or bilateral and is seen after birth, with the mother complaining of epiphora and discharge from the eyes of the child. The treatment, if started early, is easy and effective resulting in over a 90% cure rate. If the child is seen within 6 months after birth, the mother is instructed to perform sac massage and frequent installation of antibiotic drops. If this treatment is not successful and the epiphora is persistent even after 4 weeks of proper treatment, probing of the nasolacrimal duct is performed under general anesthesia. It may sometimes be necessary to perform several probing in order to open the nasolacrimal duct. However, if probing also fail to open the block, dacryocystorhinostomy is performed when the child reaches the age of three years. [3] Acute dacryocystitis occurs more often in women and patient complains of tearing and pain followed by acute onset of swelling in the lacrimal sac fossa region with oedema spreading over the lower lid and cheek. Streptococcus species are the most commonly isolated organisms in acute dacryocystitis. It is treated by systemic antibiotics, systemic anti-inflammatory drugs and local hot SJIF Impact Factor 2.062 Research Article ejbps, 2016, Volume 3, Issue 1, 259-264 European Journal of Biomedical AND Pharmaceutical sciences http://www.ejbps.com ISSN 2349-8870 Volume: 3 Issue: 1 259-264 Year: 2016 *Author for Correspondence: Nilay Chatterjee Department of Microbiology, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan – 713104. ABSTRACT Background: Dacryocystitis is one of the most common diseases of eye occurring due to inflammation of the lacrimal sac. It can be of two types: congenital and acquired. Acquired dacryocystitis can be divided into two groups: acute and chronic. Congenital dacryocystitis seen in new born are due to obstruction of the nasolacrimal duct by epithelial debris which produces hindrance in the flow of lacrimal fluid which encourages microbial growth. On the other hand, acute dacryocystitis is more common in women of middle age. Poor hygiene, pond bathing might be the source of infection causing acute infection in nasolacrimal duct resulting in swelling, inflammation, epiphora, and accumulation of pus. Study design: Fifty nine clinically diagnosed patients of dacryocystitis of all age groups and of both sexes were used for the study. Specimens were collected with the help of ophthalmologist. All specimens were subjected to gram staining followed by culture. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method as per CLSI guidelines. Result: Females are more affected than male and highest number of dacryocystitis cases are found among people in the age group of 46 – 60 years. Out of 59 cases of dacryocystitis 9 bacterial isolates were found of which 4 isolates were gram positive and 5 isolates were gram negative organisms. Antibiotic susceptibility tests shows that gram positive isolates were sensitive to vancomycin, oxacillin, linezolid and clindamycin followed by trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and gentamicin. Gram negative organisms were mostly sensitive to cefepime followed by amikacin, ceftazidime and piperacilin. Conclusion: The present study revealed that chronic dacryocystitis is the predominant clinical entity found mostly in elderly women. The causative organisms though varied show a predominance of Pseudomonas in our study. KEYWORDS: Dacryocystitis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, MSSA.