Clinical Identifiers of Complicated Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia

Abstract

STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS bacteremia (SAB) is a serious, common infection.^1,2 Complications of SAB such as infective endocarditis^3-6 and vertebral osteomyelitis⁷ are also common but are often difficult to identify at the time of the initial positive blood culture result.^8-16 For example, in a recent report of 260 patients with SAB due to infective endocarditis, the diagnosis of endocarditis was not clinically suspected and was first detected at autopsy in 32% of patients.¹³ Failure to identify such complications of SAB may lead to relapsing bacteremia¹⁷ or catastrophic outcomes.¹⁸ Thus, predicting the likelihood of these complications may greatly impact patient management.