Aspergillus prosthetic valve endocarditis

A 66-year-old man developed Aspergillus fumigatus endocarditis, complicated by an aortic root abscess 9 months after his aortic valve replacement with a Carpentier Edwards xenograft. The aortic root was replaced with an antibiotic-treated fresh homograft and anti-fungal chemotherapy commenced 24 hours later. One month after this he developed a retrosternal pseudo-aneurysm of the ascending aorta. At re-operation the homograft was heavily infected with fungal growths and the patient was considered inoperable. This case is an example of a rare condition complicating cardiac valve prosthesis which still has a very poor prognosis, despite any surgical and chemotherapeutic efforts.