Frequency of Preseptal Cellulitis and Its Risk Factors in Patients Admitted to Two Educational Hospitals in Tehran, Iran, During 2014 - 2015

Background The orbital septum is a membranous sheet acting as the anterior boundary of the orbit. Preseptal cellulitis is a kind of an infection of the eyelid and portions of skin around the eye, anterior to the orbital septum. Preseptal cellulitis is different from orbital cellulitis in epidemiology, etiology and treatment of choice. The current study aimed to evaluate the frequency of major risk factors of preseptal cellulitis. Methods This descriptive prospective study was conducted on 40 patients with preseptal cellulitis admitted to two educational hospitals in Tehran, Iran, during 2014 - 2015. Epidemiologic and clinical findings of the patients with CT scan documented preseptal cellulitis were recorded as risk factors and complete history of trauma. All the patients were scanned for sinus involvement (axial and coronal paranasal sinus CT scan). Complete physical exam for cutaneouse lesions predisposing to preseptal cellulitis as varicella was performed. Blood samples were cultured. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Software version 20. Results During the study period, 40 patients including 21 females and 19 males with preseptal cellulitis were studied. The mean age of the patients was 38.95 ± 16.20 years. The most common underlying factors was trauma (57.5% of the patients) following sinusitis (25%) with the ethmoid sinus being the most common involved sinus. Ophtalmic Zoster, dacryocystitis and hordeolum were predisposing factors in 17.5% of the cases. Most cases occurred in spring (47.5%) and the least in summer (5%). Conclusions Sinusitis was the most common predisposing factor of preseptal cellulitis in previous studies, but in this study trauma was the most common one. Recognition of major risk factors of preseptal cellulitis can be effective in planning the treatment of choice in preseptal cellulitis in different communities.