A 10-year-old immunocompetent girl with endogenous fungal endophthalmitis: Report of a case and review of the literature

Endogenous Endophthalmitis (EE) is a rare cause of blindness in the pediatric age group and this may account for the paucity of management guidelines in the literature. In this report, we describe our experience with a 10-year-old immunocompetent female who developed EE and became blind because of rapidly progressive and destructive inflammatory changes in her eye in spite of seemingly timely treatment.

Endogenous fungal endophthalmitis: risk factors, clinical course, and visual outcome in 13 patients

AIM: To analyze the risk factors, ophthalmological features, treatment modalities and their effect on the visual outcome in patients with endogenous fungal endophthalmitis (EFE). METHODS: Data retrieved from the medical files included age at presentation to the uveitis clinic, gender, ocular symptoms and their duration before presentation, history of fever, eye affected, anatomical diagnosis and laboratory evidence of fungal infection. Medical therapy recorded included systemic antifungal therapy and its duration, use of intravitreal antifungal agents and use of oral/intravitreal steroids. Surgical procedures and the data of ophthalmologic examination at presentation and at last follow-up were also collected. RESULTS: Included were 13 patients (20 eyes, mean age 58y). Ten patients presented after gastrointestinal or urological interventions and two presented after organ transplantation. In one patient, there was no history of previous intervention. Diagnostic vitrectomy was performed in 16 eyes (80%) and vitreous cultures were positive in 10 of the vitrectomized eyes (62.5%). In only 4 patients (31%), blood cultures were positive. All patients received systemic antifungal therapy. Sixteen eyes (80%) received intravitreal antifungal agent with voriconazole being the most commonly used. Visual acuity (VA) improved from 0.9±0.9 at initial exam to 0.5±0.8 logMAR at last follow-up (P=0.03). A trend of greater visual improvement was noted in favor of eyes treated with oral steroids (±intravitreal dexamethasone) than eyes that were not treated with steroids. The most common complication was maculopathy. Twelve eyes (60%) showed no ocular complications. CONCLUSION: High index of suspicion in patients with inciting risk factors is essential because of the low yield of blood cultures and the good general condition of patients at presentation. Visual prognosis is improved with the prompt institution of systemic and intravitreal pharmacotherapy and the immediate surgical intervention. Oral±local steroids could be considered in cases of prolonged or marked inflammatory responses in order to hasten control of inflammation and limit ocular complications.

Endogenous Endophthalmitis: A Review of Case Series Published between 2011 and 2020

This is a literature review of 31 case series of endogenous endophthalmitis (EE) published in the last ten years, identified from a literature search of several databases (PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library). While diabetes mellitus and malignancies remain the most frequently associated medical conditions, intravenous drug use is a significant risk factor (especially in the last years, in studies from Western countries). Ophthalmologic screening is recommended for candidaemia, but not in patients with sepsis of other aetiologies (however, the physician treating patients with sepsis must be well aware of EE). The most frequent Gram-positive microorganisms that cause EE are Staphylococcus and Streptococcus; the most frequent Gram-negative organism is Pseudomonas, and yeasts, probably Candida, usually cause fungal infections. In all-cause EE, prognostic factors of better visual outcomes are initial VA better than counting fingers, performing a pars plana vitrectomy (PPV), performing an intravitreal injection within the first 24 hours after clinical diagnosis, and the presence of a focal type of EE. In endogenous fungal endophthalmitis, more than 1/4 of patients have bilateral involvement. Blood samples have a low rate of positivity. Yeasts remain the most prevalent cause. Many authors report using azoles and echinocandins for systemic therapy (and voriconazole for intravitreal injections). Although PPV was performed in small proportions of eyes, the anatomical success rate is quite high. Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important cause of EE in Southeast Asia (and probably an emergent etiology in other regions), which is frequently associated with diabetes. There is a robust association with pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) (but in up to half of the cases, the diagnosis of EE precedes that of PLA). Blood cultures have a high diagnostic yield, while vitreous samples have a low yield. K. pneumoniae may carry antibiotic resistance. Anatomical and functional success rates are small, but they may be improved with PPV.

1702. Prevalence and Risk Factors for Endogenous Fungal Endophthalmitis in Adult Patients with Candidemia at a Tertiary Care Hospital in South Korea Over 13 years

Background Endogenous fungal endophthalmitis is one of the critical complications of candidemia in adult patients. We conducted a study to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for endogenous fungal endophthalmitis in adult patients with candidemia. Methods Adult patients ≥19 years with candidemia who underwent ophthalmological examination after the diagnosis of candidemia at a tertiary care hospital in South Korea from 2006 to 2018 were enrolled, and clinical data were collected. Results There was a total of 152 adult patients with candidemia who underwent an ophthalmological examination. Endogenous fungal endophthalmitis was found in 29 patients (19.1%). Patients were categorized into two groups (Non-endophthalmitis [NE] and endophthalmitis [E]). Between two groups, there was no significant difference in terms of age, sex, underlying comorbidities. Also, no difference in clinical conditions at the diagnosis of candidemia was noted including concomitant bacteremia, presence of septic shock, receipt of recent surgery, presence of neutropenia, total parenteral nutrition, central venous catheter, urinary catheter, ventilator, dialysis, use of antibiotics, and Candida spp. colonization. However, there was a higher rate of abnormal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in the E (35.7%) than in the NE (14.8%), P = 0.008. Moreover, the proportion of C. albicans candidemia was higher in the E (65.5%) than in the NE (35.8%), P = 0.003. In contrast, C. parapsilosis candidemia was more common in the NE (27.6%) than in the E (6.9%), P = 0.018. Although there was a trend of higher mortality rate in the E (51.7%) than in the NE (35.0%), no statistical significance was observed, P = 0.095. Multivariate logistic analysis showed C. albicans candidemia (odds ratio [OR] 4.122, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.653–10.280, P = 0.002) and abnormal ALT (OR 3.839, 95% CI 1.427–10.333, P = 0.008) were significantly associated with E cases. Conclusion Endogenous fungal endophthalmitis occurred in 19% of adult patients with candidemia. C. albicans candidemia and abnormal ALT were significantly associated with endophthalmitis. Adult patients with candidemia caused by C. albicans or having abnormal ALT need to be closely monitored for the possibility of endophthalmitis. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.