Case Report: Delayed-onset and recurrent infectious endophthalmitis after intravitreal dexamethasone implant.
- 1Department of Ophthalmology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
Abstract
Purpose
To report a rare case of delayed-onset infectious endophthalmitis occurring 33 days after an intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex®), with recurrence 20 days after complete pars plana vitrectomy and implant removal.Methods
Case report with clinical findings, diagnostic workup, management, and literature review.Results
A 51-year-old male with recurrent anterior uveitis received a dexamethasone implant for refractory cystoid macular edema. Thirty-three days post-injection, he developed acute hypopyon and severe vitritis. Emergent 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy with implant removal was performed. Aqueous humor metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) confirmed Staphylococcus epidermidis (24,904 reads; 99.96% relative abundance), with no resistance genes detected. Postoperatively, inflammation initially resolved; however, hypopyon recurred 20 days after vitrectomy. A 6-day course of intravenous vancomycin achieved complete resolution. At final follow-up, best-corrected visual acuity improved to 20/33, with no further recurrence.Conclusion
Endophthalmitis following corticosteroid implants may present with delayed-onset and can recur even after complete surgical removal. Systemic antimicrobial therapy may play a crucial role in eradicating residual infection in such challenging cases.
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BibTeX
@article{yang2026case,
title = {{Case Report: Delayed-onset and recurrent infectious endophthalmitis after intravitreal dexamethasone implant.}},
author = {Xinyue Yang and Mengfan Li and Yiwei Zhu and Xiuli Tao and Yan Cheng},
journal = {Frontiers in medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmed.2026.1962200},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908571},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Case Report: Delayed-onset and recurrent infectious endophthalmitis after intravitreal dexamethasone implant.
AU - Xinyue Yang
AU - Mengfan Li
AU - Yiwei Zhu
AU - Xiuli Tao
AU - Yan Cheng
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Frontiers in medicine
DO - 10.3389/fmed.2026.1962200
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908571
AB - Purpose To report a rare case of delayed-onset infectious endophthalmitis occurring 33 days after an intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex®), with recurrence 20 days after complete pars plana vitrectomy and implant removal.Methods Case report with clinical findings, diagnostic workup, management, and literature review.Results A 51-year-old male with recurrent anterior uveitis received a dexamethasone implant for refractory cystoid macular edema. Thirty-three days post-injection, he developed acute hypopyon and severe vitritis. Emergent 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy with implant removal was performed. Aqueous humor metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) confirmed Staphylococcus epidermidis (24,904 reads; 99.96% relative abundance), with no resistance genes detected. Postoperatively, inflammation initially resolved; however, hypopyon recurred 20 days after vitrectomy. A 6-day course of intravenous vancomycin achieved complete resolution. At final follow-up, best-corrected visual acuity improved to 20/33, with no further recurrence.Conclusion Endophthalmitis following corticosteroid implants may present with delayed-onset and can recur even after complete surgical removal. Systemic antimicrobial therapy may play a crucial role in eradicating residual infection in such challenging cases.
SN - 2296-858X
ER -