Review of endogenous endophthalmitis caused by Salmonella species including delayed onset Salmonella typhi endophthalmitis.

Endogenous endophthalmitis is a rare but serious condition that occurs when bacteria cross the blood-ocular barrier and multiply within the eye. We provide a literature review of Salmonella endogenous endophthalmitis by reviewing eight reported cases and integrating this with our experience of one case in which a four-year-old child presented with acute endophthalmitis of four days duration. He had suffered typhoid fever two months back. Vitreous biopsy revealed Salmonella typhi. Despite aggressive surgical and medical treatment, the eye developed retinal necrosis, detachment, and phthisis. Blood, aqueous, and vitreous cultures were the most frequent means of establishing the diagnosis in the reported cases. The visual outcome in most cases of endogenous Salmonella endophthalmitis is blindness in the affected eye, which has not improved since its first report in 1979. Endogenous endophthalmitis due to Salmonella typhi should be incorporated into standard literature on complications of acute and relapse phases of typhoid fever.