Simultaneous bilateral choroidal neovascularization associated with Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis: A case report

PURPOSE: To report a case of simultaneous bilateral choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis. OBSERVATIONS: A 35-year-old man presented with acute visual impairment 14 days after cardiac surgery for acute infective endocarditis caused by methicillin-susceptible S. aureus. Fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and OCT angiography confirmed the presence of a single CNV area in the right eye and three CNV areas in the left eye. Treatment with intravitreal aflibercept resulted in an improvement in the visual acuity in both eyes. CONCLUSION AND IMPORTANCE: The findings from this case highlight the importance of monitoring visual symptoms in patients with infective endocarditis. CNV can result in vision loss when it involves the macula; therefore, prompt diagnosis is important. Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection can be an effective treatment in such cases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of simultaneous bilateral CNV associated with infective endocarditis.