Purpose: To investigate etiological factors of endophthalmitis in Farabi Eye Hospital .

Methods: In a retrospective study, the clinical records of 223 patients admitted to the hospital with final diagnosis of endophthalmitis between March 2002 and March 2004 were reviewed. Analyzed factors included: age, sex, clinical presentation, clinical course, microbiological data, treatment modality, visual outcome, and surgical complications.

Results: Two hundred twenty three patients with final diagnosis of endophthalmitis were evaluated. One hundred and fifty patients (67%) were male and 73 (33%) were female. 50.2% of the patients were older than 40 years, 14.3% fall in the range of 17-40 years and 30.5% in the range of 2-16 years, and 4.9% were younger than 2 years of age. 57% of endophthalmitis cases were postoperative, 40.5% were posttraumatic, and 2.5% were endogenous. Overall 15.9% of the cases had positive culture. Wound leakage was noted in 39% and vitreous loss in 22% of postoperative patients. During 3.5–6.5 months (mean 4.5 months) visual acuity was ²⁰/₄₀₀ or better in 69.5% of posttraumatic cases and in 44.5% of postoperative patients. Finally 92.8% of patients required at least one vitrectomy procedure as a part of their management. Evisceration or enucleation was performed in 8.1% as a primary operation or in the course of their treatment.

Conclusion: The incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis in this study is similar to other studies. Posttraumatic endophthalmitis incidence is less than the mean incidence of other reports. The rate of positive culture was also less than other studies.