Constrictive Pericarditis Caused by Candida glabrata in an Immunocompetent Patient: Case Report and Review of Literature

Abstract

Candida pericarditis is a rare disease described mostly in patients with recent cardiothoracic surgery or debilitating chronic diseases and is generally considered to be associated with high mortality. To our knowledge, we report the first case of Candida pericarditis in a healthy host who had not undergone thoracic surgery and the first documented case and cure of pericarditis caused by C. glabrata. The most probable underlying factor in the development of this pericarditis was the abdominal surgery the patient underwent to correct a gastrogastric fistula, without an intraabdominal leak, which developed 10 y after surgical gastric stapling for weight reduction. The literature on Candida pericarditis is reviewed. If Candida pericarditis is diagnosed early and treated with a combined medical and surgical approach, the prognosis today is much more favorable than that previously reported.