Infectious diseases specialist consultation in Staphylococcus lugdunensis bacteremia.

Abstract

BackgroundCommensal coagulase negative Staphylococcus lugdunensis may cause severe bacteremia (SLB) and complications. Treatment of SLB is not fully established and we wanted to evaluate if infectious diseases specialist consultation (IDSC) would improve management and prognosis.MethodsMulticenter retrospective study of SLB patients followed for 1 year. Patients were stratified according to bedside (formal), telephone (informal) or lack of IDSC within 7 days of SLB diagnosis.ResultsAltogether, 104 SLB patients were identified: 24% received formal bedside and 52% informal telephone IDSC whereas 24% were managed without any IDSC. No differences in demographics, underlying conditions or severity of illness were observed between the groups. Patients with bedside IDSC, compared to telephone IDSC or lack of IDSC, had transthoracic echocardiography more often performed (odds ratio [OR] 4.00; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.31-12.2; p = 0.012) and (OR 16.0; 95% CI, 4.00-63.9; PConclusionIDSC may improve management and outcome of Staphylococcus lugdunensis bacteremia.