Pseudomonas aeruginosa choroidal abscess in a patient with bronchiectasis

Abstract

Purpose: To report a case of Pseudomonas aeruginosa endophthalmitis with choroidal abscess formation in a patient with bronchiectasis. Methods: Case report. Results: A 75-year-old gentleman with bronchiectasis and P. aeruginosa pneumonia developed painless loss of right eye vision. The patient had previously undergone bronchoscopy to exclude pulmonary neoplasm. Slit-lamp examination revealed intense anterior chamber inflammation with hypopyon and B-scan ophthalmic ultrasound showed a choroidal mass consistent with choroidal abscess. Systemic and topical antibiotics did not prevent further progression of the infection. Patient declined pars plana vitrectomy and opted for enucleation. Polymerase-chain-reaction-based restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) of the enucleated eye confirmed P. aeruginosa to be the causative organism. Conclusion: P. aeruginosa cannot be completely eradicated by systemic antibiotics, and bronchial colonization of P. aeruginosa can remain a potential source for metastatic infection. P. aeruginosa choroidal abscess, previously reported only in patients with cystic fibrosis, can also occur in bronchiectasis. Physicians should therefore have a high index of suspicion of endogenous endophthalmitis and treat aggressively, especially in patients with subretinal invasion and abscess formation. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007.