{"doi":"10.1097/coa.0000000000000010","title":"Characterization of Infectious Keratitis in Opioid Users in a County Hospital Setting","abstract":"Purpose: To determine risk factors and clinical course of corneal ulcers in the setting of opioid use. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed of patients presenting with bacterial or fungal keratitis at a county hospital from 2010-2021. Subjects were separated into three groups: opioid drug users (heroin, methadone, fentanyl), non-opioid drug users, and non-drug users. 24 opioid users, 77 non-opioid drug users, and 38 non-drug users were included in the study. Chi-square and t-tests were used to compare hospitalization for corneal ulcer treatment; length of hospitalization; loss to follow-up; final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA); medication noncompliance; time to ulcer resolution; and visual disability (defined either by the legal limit for driving in California or the federal limit for blindness). Results: Opioid users had higher rates of unemployment (p=0.002), homelessness (p=0.018), and psychiatric conditions (p=0.024) compared with non-opioid and non-drug users. They had more severe presentations, with worse initial BCVA of the affected eye (p=0.003), larger ulcer size (p=0.023), and higher rates of individuals below the legal vision thresholds for driving (p=0.009) and blindness (p=0.033) at initial presentation. Opioid use was associated with increased rate of hospitalization (p<0.001), higher fortified antibiotic use (p=0.009), worse final BCVA of the affected eye (p=0.020), and increased rates of BCVA worse than the legal vision thresholds for driving (p=0.043) and blindness (p<0.001) on final presentation. Conclusions: Infectious keratitis associated with opioid use is associated with more severe presentations and poorer outcomes, including higher rates of visual disability.","journal":"Cornea Open","year":2023,"id":378475,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.7657,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":496100,"name":"Lawrence Chan","orcid":"0000-0003-3521-5290","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":433633,"name":"Murtaza Saifee","orcid":"0000-0002-4412-166X","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":383783,"name":"Gerami D. Seitzman","orcid":"0000-0003-1791-5509","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":901500,"name":"Madeline Yung","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":516490,"name":"Matilda F. Chan","orcid":"0000-0001-8679-6932","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":942832,"name":"Jacqueline B. Lopez","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":36,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T01:16:44.708019Z","pmid":"37637189","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}