1999 Volume 60 Issue 1 Pages 220-222
A 22-year-old woman who had been admitted to the department of psychiatry in our hospital with anorexia nervosa had a sudden onset of severe pain and cyanosis on her left lower extremity. She was referred to the department of surgery. Emergency angiography showed a complete obstruction of the left femoral artery. Embolectomy was performed according to the angiographic findings. Histological findings of this embolus revealed fungus embolus. After the operation, blood flow on her left lower extremity was recovered. Her consciousness level was, however, down suddenly in spite of intensive treatment. Twenty-seven days after the operation, she died of brain abcess. Infectious fungal endocarditis of mitral vulve was found by autopsy. These results suggest that acute fungal embolism was derived from infectious fungal endocarditis of the mitral vulve. Prognosis of systemic fungal infection is very poor and so we should examine the whole body and treat carefully.
Nihon Rinsho Geka Gakkai Zasshi (Journal of Japan Surgical Association)
