For how long would you treat a patient with dematiaceous fungi growing on a native heart valve discovered at the time of valve replacement?

The first step is to determine whether the positive culture may be a contaminant, as it very well could be. Every valve sent for culture should have also been sent for histopathological examination. In a patient with fungal endocarditis, one should expect to find evidence of acute inflammation and the presence of fungal organisms on special stains on histopathological examination. If such is indeed found, and if the appearance of fungal organisms on the surgical pathology specimen is consistent ...