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Pathologic significance of Staphylococcus saprophyticus in complicated urinary tract infections
1Department of Urology, Gifu University School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
Objectives:
To determine the pathologic significance of Staphylococcus saprophyticus in complicated urinary tract infections.
Methods:
We performed a retrospective analysis of specimens demonstrating this organism based on a survey of 9980 urine specimens cultured in our clinic during an 11-year period. Forty-two specimens from 34 patients were positive for S. saprophyticus.
Results:
S. saprophyticus was isolated in 13 women without underlying urologic disease, and their symptoms were compatible with acute cystitis or acute pyelonephritis. S. saprophyticus was isolated from 7 men and 14 women with underlying urologic disease. In most of these 21 patients, S. saprophyticus was thought not to be a true uropathogen but rather a colonizer, because the isolated organism was usually low in numbers and found with a low degree of pyuria, and the hosts were usually asymptomatic. However, 2 patients demonstrating S. saprophyticus colonization developed sepsis after urologic surgery.
Conclusions:
Although this organism is pathogenic in certain circumstances, suggesting the necessity of preoperative antimicrobial elimination, it is usually a colonizer in complicated urinary tract infections.