Bacterial endocarditis caused by contact lens usage

Abstract

A 17-year-old female was transferred to our hospital due to high fever, general fatigue, and dim eyesight. Three weeks before, she had used cosmetic colored contact lenses and then suffered from bloodshot eyes associated with dim eyesight. Intermittent fever and general fatigue were followed by eye symptoms. Echocardiography revealed moving vegetation on the posterior leaflet of the mitral valve associated with mild mitral valve regurgitation. There were no infectious sites in systemic examinations; thus, the cause of infective endocarditis was considered the infection due to contact lens usage. The patient initially received mitral valve plasty associated with the removal of infective sites. However, redo surgery was necessary 19 days later due to the relapse of infection, and the mitral valve was replaced by bioprosthesis. Traumatic injury of vessels due to inappropriate contact lens usage seemed to lead to systemic hematogenous infection and subsequent endocarditis. We report a rare case of infective endocarditis which was caused by contact lens usage.