[Aspergillus endocarditis. Report of a case treated surgically with success]

A 42 year old man without history of rheumatic heart disease was admitted to the hospital with severe aortic insufficiency and heart failure. There were no clinical data of an infectious disease. The bidimensional echocardiogram showed vegetations involving the aortic valve leaflets. With the diagnosis of acute aortic insufficiency caused by infective endocarditis the patient was submitted to surgery. During surgery the existence of endocarditis secondary to a mycotic agent was demonstrated. The fungus was latter identified as aspergillus fumigatus. The postoperative course was uneventful. The good results obtained in this case confirm recent reports advising an urgent surgical approach of cases of infective endocarditis secondary to mycotic agents, and support the view that echocardiography may be a valuable tool in the diagnosis of this entity.