Endogenous Fungal Endophthalmitis After Cardiac Surgery

Abstract

The authors present a single-patient interventional case report of endogenous fungal endophthalmitis (EFE) in a patient with an implanted prosthetic device. A 74-year-old man underwent a double coronary artery bypass graft with a bioprosthetic pericardial valve and transvenous dual chamber pacemaker. Four months later, he presented with EFE. Despite aggressive local and systemic antifungal therapy, the patient died of septic shock due to a fungally infected pacemaker. Successful management of post-cardiac surgery EFE requires aggressive local and systemic antifungal therapy, but without surgical removal of implanted thoracic hardware these modalities alone may be insufficient for a cure.