Q:
What is fungal endocarditis?
A:
Fungal endocarditis (FE) is an uncommon but life-threating complication of invasive fungal infections. It occurs when a fungal infection from other parts of the body enters the blood stream (usually resulting in fungemia/fungaemia) and attacks the lining of the heart.
Fungal endocarditis is seldom a disease in healthy individuals except in intravenous illicit drug users. In nearly all patients, at least one predisposing factor could be identified. Furthermore, almost 75% of the patients had more than one risk factor. The major factors are underlying structural cardiac abnormalities and particular prosthetic cardiac devices.
Keyword: fungal endocarditis.
