A triad of endocarditis, endophthalmitis, and meningitis

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an uncommon cause of infective endocarditis; it often requires prolonged antibacterial treatment and involves a high mortality rate. We report a rare case of pneumococcal endocarditis manifesting with unusual complications - meningitis and endophthalmitis. Streptococcus pneumoniae species grew from the cerebrospinal fluid. The diagnosis of native aortic valve infective endocarditis was confirmed after some delay by transesophageal echocardiography. The patient's eye was lost because of infective complications, but his life was saved following an aggressive antibacterial therapy in combination with an immediate aortic valve replacement. © 2013 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.