298 - Multicenter retrospective cohort study of the clinical significance of Staphylococcus lugdunensis isolated from a single blood culture set

Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) species with the potential to cause aggressive infection. Guidance surrounding S. lugdunensis bacteremia (SLB) is lacking, especially in the case of a single positive set of blood cultures.


Methods:

We performed a multicenter, retrospective observational cohort review of adult patients with SLB from at least one blood culture set within the University of Maryland Medical System from November 2015-November 2019. Objectives were to (1) describe baseline characteristics, (2) compare available criteria for evaluating clinical significance, and (3) evaluate the clinical outcomes among patients with SLB in 1 vs ≥2 positive blood culture sets. Descriptive statistics with Chi-squared and Mann-Whitney U tests were carried out.


Results:

There were 5,548 CoNS-positive blood culture sets, 49 (0.88%) with S. lugdunensis comprising 36 adult patients (24 with 1 positive set and 12 with ≥2 positive sets). Patients with ≥2 positive sets were more likely to be on hemodialysis (HD) (p=0.029) and to have an HD catheter present (p=0.10) (Table 1). Thirty-five of the 36 patients fulfilled at least one of the following: systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), Souvenir criteria, or clinical criteria (infectious focus on imaging and/or second positive culture site) (Table 2). Twenty-eight (78%) patients were treated with antimicrobial therapy and/or central line removal. SIRS criteria were met more often among patients with 1 positive set (p=0.05). Patients with ≥2 positive sets were more often treated with antibiotics for longer than 2 weeks (p=0.02). The mean time of positive cultures to discharge was 11 days and was longer for patients with only one set of positive blood cultures (13 vs. 6 days), although this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.29) (Table 3).

Table 1. Baseline characteristics
Table 2. Clinically significant S. lugdunensis bacteremia by criteria
Table 3. Outcomes of those with treated S. lugdunensis in blood cultures


Conclusion:

SLB was rare and occurred more frequently as a single set of positive blood cultures. Though limited by sample size, this study found similar patient characteristics, clinical significance and outcomes between patients with one set and those with ≥2 sets of blood cultures positive for S. lugdunensis. Given the potential severity of SLB, it seems prudent to treat S. lugdunensis in a single blood culture, but larger studies are needed.