Late onset endophthalmitis with rare fungus Exophiala dermatitidis

Abstract

The authors report a case of a 64-year-old diabetic male patient with late-onset fulminant fungal endophthalmitis occurring 6 weeks following complicated cataract surgery. A pigmented, dimorphic fungus known as Exophiala dermatitidis was isolated from aqueous and vitreous samples of the patient. The patient underwent pars plana vitrectomy, followed by daily injections of intravitreal voriconazole, and eventually had marked improvement in the best-corrected visual acuity to 6/9. So far, eight cases of Exophiala endophthalmitis have been reported in the literature, of which six have had a poor visual outcome. This case report demonstrates a successful outcome in a case of E. dermatitidis endophthalmitis, tackled with an aggressive medical and surgical approach.