Oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus endophthalmitis after ganciclovir intraocular implant.

PURPOSE: To describe a patient who developed oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus endophthalmitis after insertion of a ganciclovir intraocular implant.

METHOD: Case report.

RESULTS

A 42-year-old man with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and a history of cytomegalovirus retinitis was admitted with right-sided eye pain and decreased visual acuity 10 days after receiving a second ganciclovir intraocular implant in the right eye. A therapeutic vitrectomy, right eye, was performed on the day of admission. A vitreal tap produced frank pus and white, fluffy debris. Cultures of the vitreal fluid grew oxacillin-resistant S aureus, sensitive only to vancomycin, rifampin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. The patient was successfully treated with removal of both ganciclovir implants in the right eye and a 4-week course of vancomycin and rifampin. However, the infection left the patient blind in the infected eye.

CONCLUSION

Bacterial endophthalmitis is an infrequent but serious complication of the ganciclovir intraocular implant.