Stenotrophomonas maltophiliaandMycobacterium chelonaeCoinfection of the Extraocular Scleral Buckle Explant

PURPOSE: To report a very unusual form of coinfection of the extraocular scleral buckle explant by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Mycobacterium chelonae. DESIGN: Interventional case report. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 61-year-old man had infected buckle after uneventful retinal reattachment surgery. Culture showed coinfection by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Mycobacterium chelonae. This concomitance is not random but rather fortified virulence of these otherwise facultative pathogens. Organisms responded to broad-spectrum antibiotics. CONCLUSIONS: The co-inhabitation of these two low-virulence organisms seems to represent an interesting symbiosis with boosting virulence and resistance to host defense, especially in those immunocompromised.