title: Perfusionist-transmitted bacterial mediastinitis in a heart transplant recipient.
abstract: We report the case of a 56-year-old man who developed bacterial mediastinitis with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus after undergoing heart transplantation. He had a history of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and prior cardiac surgery. To find the source of nosocomial infection, we cultured nasal swab specimens from all hospital personnel involved in this operation. We used antibiotic sensitivity profiling and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to subtype the involved microorganism. The S. aureus isolates from the patient and the perfusionist were identical to each other and were different from the strains previously found in our hospital. It is almost certain that the S. aureus mediastinitis in this patient was transmitted from the perfusionist. We recommend obtaining cultures from hospital staff members when there is an outbreak of staphylococcal infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Republic of China.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000635:transmission*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D017757:Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient; D008297:Male; D008480:Mediastinitis / Q000209:etiology; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000635:transmission*