Mortality of Hospitalized Patients With Candida Endophthalmitis
Allison V. Menezes, MD;
Dayle A. Sigesmund, MD;
Wilfred A. Demajo, MD;
Robert G. Devenyi, MD
Arch Intern Med. 1994;154(18):2093-2097.
Abstract
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Background
Candida is becoming an important nosocomial pathogen as the incidence of hospital-acquired candidemia is rising. Candida endophthalmitis is a good indicator of systemic candidiasis in hospitalized patients.
Methods
Thirteen (17%) of 76 ophthalmologic consultations for Candida endophthalmitis in our institution had positive findings during a 12-month period. We studied these 13 patients with Candida endophthalmitis to evaluate their outcomes.
Results
All 13 patients were admitted to a large tertiary care hospital, and 10 (77%) were in an intensive care unit. The overall mortality was 77% for all patients and 80% for the intensive care patients. This mortality was higher than the overall mortality for all patients in the surgical intensive care unit in our institution (17%), as well as the mortality for our patients with candidemia in the surgical intensive care unit (61%).
Conclusions
The strikingly high mortality in our group of patients with Candida endophthalmitis reflects the fact that they are a seriously ill group with multiple risk factors for Candida infection. This information suggests that the presence of Candida endophthalmitis is a good indicator of high mortality in seriously ill patients in intensive care units.
(Arch Intern Med. 1994;154:2093-2097)
Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Ophthalmology (Drs Menezes, Sigesmund, and Devenyi) and Anaesthesia and Surgery (Dr Demajo), The Toronto (Ontario) Hospital.
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