Meningococcal sepsis with endophthalmitis

W. Mason, S. Igdaloff, R. Friedman and H. T. Wright Jr

Endophthalmitis is a rare complication of meningococcemia. A child had endophthalmitis as the initially occurring complaint. Although both eyes appeared inflamed, the pupil in the right eye was fixed and dilated, the fundus could not be seen, and a hypopyon was seen in the right anterior chamber. There was gradual improvement when the child received antibiotic therapy. Since the introduction of antimicrobial drugs, endophthalmitis has rarely been observed as a complication of meningococcal disease. However, this report is evidence that meningococcemia may occur with unusual sites of local infection.