Acremonium Species Pacemaker Site Infection

I nfections following the implantation of a pacemaker constitute an infrequent but dangerous complication. Up to three years following the initial implantation, the average incidence of infection is 2%, ranging from 0.5-12.6% in various studies. However, the incidence of the most serious infections, such as microbiemia and infectious endocarditis, do not exceed 0.5%. The responsible microorganisms are mainly microbes, though, fungi have also been implicated in rare cases. Our case concerns a pacemaker site (pocket) infection due to the saprophytic fungus Acremonium spp (former Cephalosporium). It should be noted that no other case of fungal infection, attributable to the aforementioned fungus involving the pacemaker pocket exclusively, was found in either Greek or international literature. It is also interesting that the fungal infection developed in a non-diabetic and non-immunosuppressed patient.