Molecular diagnosis of Staphylococcus aureus prosthetic aortic graft infection: a case report

Aortic graft infection is a widely debated topic in the literature, it represents about 1% of post-surgical complications and is associated with a high complication and mortality rate. In most cases, such infections are treated empirically because patients are already under antibiotic coverage so as not to allow isolation of the pathogen. The literature in this regard is very attentive to new molecular diagnostic possibilities, and especially the operating of such complications in a precise diagnostic algorithm and management of the patient.

We present the case of a 62-year-old patient with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) treated in 2004 by endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (EVAR). In 2009, a type II endoleak (the most frequent complication in this kind of surgery) was treated by CT-guided direct puncture and embolization of aneurysm, due to progressive enlargement of the aortic aneurism sac during annual follow-up. After nine days the patient was hospitalized for septic fever.

When traditional culture does not allow microbiological diagnosis, molecular tests may permit results to be obtained that can change the effective therapeutic intervention, with a decisive impact on patient outcome.