Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2024 Apr 24:2024:8746755.
doi: 10.1155/2024/8746755. eCollection 2024.

Bilateral Endophthalmitis in a Postpartum Immunocompetent Patient

Rola N Hamam  1 , Giulia Firmani  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Bilateral Endophthalmitis in a Postpartum Immunocompetent Patient

Rola N Hamam et al. Case Rep Ophthalmol Med. .

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this report is to present the onset of bilateral endophthalmitis negative to culture testing and vitreous tapping in a postpartum immunocompetent patient.

Methods: A 33-year-old patient developed floaters and severe blurry vision in both eyes 3 weeks after childbirth. With no previous surgery, no comorbidities in her clinical history, and negative diagnostic reports, endogenous endophthalmitis was suspected. Two days later, a pars plana vitrectomy was performed in both eyes one week apart, and intravitreal antibiotics and antifungals were administered during the surgery. No infectious source was identified since the cultures from the aqueous and vitreous humor returned negative in both cases.

Results: Residual fibrosis around the fovea in the right eye and on the optic disc in the left eye was described. Nevertheless, the best corrected visual acuity of the patient was 20/20 in both eyes 4 months after the onset of the presumed endogenous endophthalmitis.

Conclusion: This is the first report presenting a bilateral case of postpartum endophthalmitis negative to culture testing and vitreous tapping in a healthy patient with no previous surgeries nor long-term treatment. Early pars plana vitrectomy was fundamental for the correct management of this condition.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Neither of the authors nor their relatives nor any business with which they are associated has any personal or business interest in or potential for personal gain. The authors also confirm that the disclosed information is correct and that no other situation of real, potential, or apparent conflict of interest is known to them.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Preoperative fundus images in OD and OS.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Fundus images in OD before pars plana vitrectomy and fundus images in OS after pars plana vitrectomy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Repeat fundus images four days later in OD before pars plana vitrectomy and fundus images in OS after pars plana vitrectomy.
Figure 4
Figure 4
OCT in OD before pars plana vitrectomy and in OS after pars plana vitrectomy.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Repeat OCT seven days after the second surgery, after pars plana vitrectomy in both eyes.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Fundus images ten days after the second surgery, after pars plana vitrectomy in both eyes.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Fundus images 3 months after bilateral pars plana vitrectomy in both eyes.
Figure 8
Figure 8
OCT 3 months after bilateral pars plana vitrectomy in both eyes.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Timeline summarizing the patient's case presentation, treatments, and follow-up. Used acronyms: OU = both eyes; OS = left eye; OD = right eye; CBC = complete blood count; CXR = chest X-ray; VA = visual acuity; PPV = pars plana vitrectomy; ANA = antinuclear antibody; HLA = human leukocyte antigen; OCT = optical coherence tomography; PCR = polymerase chain reaction; IOP = intraocular pressure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sadiq M. A., Hassan M., Agarwal A., et al. Endogenous endophthalmitis: diagnosis, management, and prognosis. Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection . 2015;5(1):p. 32. doi: 10.1186/s12348-015-0063-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gurnani B., Kaur K. StatPearls . Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022. Endogenous endophthalmitis. December 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK576391/ - PubMed
    1. Tsai C. C., Chen S. J., Chung Y. M., Yu K. W., Hsu W. M. Postpartum endogenous Candida endophthalmitis. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association . 2002;101(6):432–436. - PubMed
    1. Borne M. J., Shields J. A., Shields C. L., de Porter P., Ehya H. Bilateral viral endophthalmitis as the presenting sign of severe combined immunodeficiency. Archives of Ophthalmology . 1994;112(10):1280–1281. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1994.01090220030013. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chung S. A., Kim C., Lim J. Y., Chung Y.-R. Optic perineuritis as an initial presentation of ocular toxoplasmosis: a case report. International Journal of Ophthalmology . 2022;15(12):2043–2046. doi: 10.18240/ijo.2022.12.25. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources