Sonication assisted microbiological diagnosis of implant-related infection caused by Prevotella disiens and Staphylococcus epidermidis in a patient with cranioplasty

Abstract

BackgroundInfections present a major complication of cranioplasty procedures and in many cases removal of the implant material becomes a necessity. Sonication of the artificial implant material has been used during the last years, in order to facilitate better diagnosis of these infections, nevertheless its use in cranial implant infections is still limited.Case presentationA case of a 63-year-old Caucasian male patient who underwent a decompressive craniectomy, due to intracranial hemorrhage, and a consequent cranioplasty using an autogenic bone flap fixed by titanium clamps, is reported. After three unsuccessful cranioplasty efforts to repair a persistent skin defect, removing the bone flap and the titanium clamps was a necessity. Tissue and bone cultures were unable to reveal any microorganism whilst sonication of the removed titanium clamps and consequent culture of the resulting sonication liquid yielded Prevotella disiens and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The patient was treated with daptomycin and metronidazole until discharge and the skin defect was successfully repaired.ConclusionThe present case report indicates that the use of the sonication procedure assisted the microbiological diagnosis. This is the first known neurosurgical case of the implementation of the sonication procedure.

<p>Nanosilver/poly (DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) on titanium implant surfaces for the enhancement of antibacterial properties and osteoinductivity</p>

“…Initially, the uncoated Ti 1% NSPTi and 2% NSPTi were incubated in 10 3 or 10 5 colonyforming units (CFU) bacterial suspensions (in culture broth) with shaking at 200 rpm at 37°C for 1, 2, 6, and 24 hours. Next, adherent bacteria on each sample bar were suspended in sterilized PBS by sonication for 30 seconds at 40 kHz using a sonication device (BactoSonic; BANDELIN GmbH, Berlin, Germany) 35 and plated onto 10 cm LB culture medium plates. 36 After incubation, the colonies were quantitated by aerobic plate count method according to procedures described in the FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM).…”

Diagnostic Approach to Health Care- and Device-Associated Central Nervous System Infections

“…However, isolated positive cultures from broth media (i.e., thioglycolate broth or blood culture) must be interpreted in the context of the overall clinical likelihood of infection, as they often represent bacterial colonization or contamination (27,33,43). Sonication cultures of explanted neurosurgical hardware (e.g., EVD tip) may also increase the yield of cultures and diagnosis of infections when clinical suspicion is high, similar to sonication cultures of orthopedic hardware (47,48). Conventional blood cultures are generally not helpful in diagnosing most CNS device infections but can be helpful and should be performed in patients with suspicion for ventriculoatrial shunt infection (15,39).…”

The Nasal and Oropharyngeal Microbiomes of Healthy Livestock Workers

“…Due to its high prevalence in livestock workers, it may be a potential cause of difficult-to-diagnose infections in people with livestock contact, especially in the immunocompromised [34]; however, little information on Dietzia as an opportunistic pathogen exists. Other potential pathogens found in higher abundance in livestock workers were Prevotella [35–37], Streptococcus [38–40], Moraxella [41, 42], Rothia [43], and Oscillibacter [44].…”