Role of potassium hydroxide mount in rapid diagnosis of fungal corneal ulcers.

The aim of the study was to establish the importance of KOH mount in rapid diagnosis of fungal corneal ulcers. Corneal scrapings were collected from 50 patients with corneal ulcers where clinical features suggested fungal aetiology and ulcers showed no signs of healing on initial treatment. Corneal scrapings were subjected to wet mount with 10% KOH, Gram's stain, and culture on SDA media. Wet mount showed fungal elements in 34 cases (68%) and were classified according to morphology. Gram's stain of corneal scrapings did not provide much help. Fungal culture was positive in 9 (26.4%) out of 34 cases. Specific antifungal treatment was instituted in all cases that showed positive wet mount without waiting for culture reports and on follow-up all these 34 patients showed improvement. Thus wet mount with 10% KOH can be relied upon as the singlemost important screening tool for rapid diagnosis of fungal corneal ulcer and treatment should be dispensed on its basis.