A candida bezoar in the Chiari reticulum of the right heart atrium

: An incidental finding at autopsy in a 55-year-old woman who died of complications of uterine cervical carcinoma was a 3 cm long polyp attached to the rete of Chiari in the right atrium. The lesion was interpreted grossly as either a pedunculated metastasis to the heart or an unusual atrial tumor. Histologic examination revealed it to be a fungus ball composed of regularly grouped Candida mycelia. The patient's history revealed Candida septicemia several months prior to death for which she had been treated by heavy doses of antibiotics administered through indwelling catheter. The causes of this unusual anatomo-pathologic finding are discussed in the light of our observations and those reviewed in the literature.