[Acute fungal endocarditis due to Trichosporon beigelli]

We report a 59-year-old woman with acute fungal endocarditis of a prosthetic valve caused by the endogenic organism, Trichosporon beigelli. This slowly developing disease mainly effects drug addicts who use intravenous narcotics. In nonaddicts it is rare, with mortality as high as 50%. There are only sporadic reports of T. beigelli as a complication long after open heart surgery. The ongoing infection is undetected for even years after the primary infection, due to its prolonged latent phase. We present the difficulties of diagnosis, and of treating the disease with a combination of surgery and of long-term chemotherapy.