Candida peritonitis. Inefficacy of amphotericin-B and 5-fluorocytosine treatment

A 3 1/2 year old child with chronic renal failure twice developed severe candida peritonitis in the course of treatment with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Medical treatment was unsuccessful but removal of the catheter led to immediate cure. This case documents a long held clinical impression that the best, if not the only way of treatment of candida peritonitis is removal of the indwelling catheter. Thus, potentially hazardous, painful and costly medical treatment can and should be avoided.