A case of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus conjunctivitis and its clinically successful topical treatment.

PURPOSE: To describe what is, to our knowledge, the first documented case of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) conjunctivitis and its successful topical treatment.

METHODS

A 77-year-old white man with end-stage multiple myeloma was hospitalized for congestive heart failure and pneumonia. During hospitalization, the patient developed conjunctivitis. Cultures of the eye were directly plated into several media. The bacterium was tested for antibiotic minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) method.

RESULTS

Culture of the affected eye grew Enterococcus faecalis resistant to vancomycin. Topical treatment with moxifloxacin 0.5% (Vigamox; Alcon, Ft. Worth, TX) resulted in clinical resolution despite a MIC showing resistance.

CONCLUSION

Clinical resolution of VRE conjunctivitis was shown with topical moxifloxacin therapy in this case. At the same time, we suggest the use of combined topical and systemic therapy for treatment of VRE in immunocompromised patients.