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Updated: Aug 16, 2026
Subcutaneous Infection of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)
Published on: February 9, 2011
Rapid serodiagnosis of Staphylococcus aureus surgical site infection following median sternotomy
A L Casey1, T Worthington, R S Bonser
1Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infection Control, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK. anna.casey@uhb.nhs.uk
Objectives:
To determine the sensitivity and specificity of a novel ELISA for the serodiagnosis of surgical site infection (SSI) due to staphylococci following median sternotomy.
Methods:
Twelve patients with a superficial sternal SSI and 19 with a deep sternal SSI due to Staphylococcus aureus were compared with 37 control patients who also underwent median sternotomy for cardiac surgery but exhibited no microbiological or clinical symptoms of infection. A further five patients with sternal SSI due to coagulase-negative (CoNS) staphylococci were studied. An ELISA incorporating a recently recognised exocellular short chain form of lipoteichoic acid (lipid S) recovered from CoNS, was used to determine serum levels of anti-lipid S IgG in all patient groups.
Results:
Serum anti-lipid S IgG titres of patients with sternal SSI due to S. aureus were significantly higher than the control patients (P<0.0001). In addition, patients with deep sternal SSI had significantly higher serum anti-lipid S IgG titres than patients with superficial sternal SSI (P = 0.03). Serum anti-lipid S IgG titres of patients with sternal SSI due to CoNS were significantly higher than the control patients (P = 0.001).
Conclusion:
The lipid S ELISA may facilitate the diagnosis of sternal SSI due to S. aureus and could also be of value with infection due to CoNS.
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