The Effect of Cortisone on Experimental Pseudomonas Corneal Ulcers

Abstract

The therapeutic use of cortisone in ocular inflammations has been increasing rapidly during the past few years. Adverse effects as in herpetic dendritic ulcers¹ as well as beneficial effects as in nongranulomatous uveitis 2 have been reported. The purpose of this paper is to report experimental evidence that cortisone may adversely modify Pseudomonas corneal infections in rabbits. Methods and Materials Animals. —Both pigmented and albino rabbits of varying weights were used throughout. None of these animals had a history of past infections. Bacterial Culture. —Pseudomonas aeruginosa organisms which were recently isolated from a human corneal ulcer were used throughout this study. The organisms were grown on tryptose agar slants at 37 C for 24 hours. Two drops (about 0.12 cc.) of an isotonic saline suspension containing 1,000,000,000 organisms per milliliter were used as the inoculum for each eye. Tetracaine (Pontocaine) hydrochloride U. S. P. (0.5%) was used topically in