Native aortic valve vegetative endocarditis with Cunninghamella

Cunninghamella bertholletiae is a rare Mucor species that is seldom the cause for endocarditis of prosthetic heart valves. It is even a more uncommon cause of endocarditis of native heart valves. We present a case of Cunninghamella endocarditis of a native aortic valve in an immuno-compromised patient, diagnosed from tissue culture obtained at the time of surgery. There have only been two other reported cases of native valve endocarditis with a Mucor species, and in those cases, the diagnoses were made post-mortem.