[Fungal endocarditis in non drug-addict patients. 10-year experience].

INTRODUCTION AND

OBJECTIVES

Fungal endocarditis is an uncommon but serious disease. Five cases of fungal endocarditis, involving non-addict patients, were diagnosed at our hospital in the last 10 years.

RESULTS

Causal organisms included Candida albicans (3 patients), Saccharomyces (1 patient) and Torulopsis glabrata (1 patient). The predisposing condition to fungal infection was previous cardiac surgery in four cases (three of them with prosthetic heart valves, and the other patient underwent total surgical correction of Tetralogy of Fallot). No predisposing cause was found in one patient. All patients developed important complications. Three cases underwent cardiac surgery that evolved favorably, and two patients had contraindications for surgery and died from multiorgan septic involvement (overall survival was 60%).

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of fungal endocarditis involving non-addict patients has represented 3% of all cases of infective endocarditis. Even nowadays, fungal endocarditis is a disease with a high mortality and a precocious diagnosis is important to approach surgical treatment and to improve its prognosis.