A 47-year-old man who had a pacemaker implanted 2 years earlier, recently developed a fever and had been on antibiotics for 2 months. He presented with pulmonary emboli, and underwent lead extraction and emboli removal. Histopathology demonstrated Aspergillus. Amphotericin B was continued postoperatively. This rare case of pacemaker lead endocarditis suggests that vigorous medical and surgical intervention can be curative.
ChambersJBlauthCBucknallCEykynS. Images in clinical medicine. Aspergilloma as a complication of pacemaker implantation. N Engl J Med2002; 346: 428–428.
5.
RallidisLSKomninosKAPapasteriadisEG. Pacemaker-related endocarditis: the value of transesophageal echocardiography in diagnosis and treatment. Acta Cardiol2003; 58: 31–34.
6.
BöhmABányaiFPrédaIZámolyiK. The treatment of septicemia in pacemaker patients. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol1996; 19: 1105–1111.
7.
MehtaG. Aspergillus endocarditis after open heart surgery: an epidemiological investigation. J Hosp infect1990; 15: 245–253.
