[Detection of fibria-like surface structures in Staphylococcus saprophyticus as a pathogen in chronic pyelonephritis]

It is reported on a 25-year-old female patient suffering from chronic pyelonephritis. Six times coagulase-negative staphylococci were bacteriological proved in a significant number. Four strains were identified as Staphylococcus saprophyticus. The in each case in the autumn occurring complaints could be correlated well with the seasonal fluctuations of urinary tract infections by S. saprophyticus as described in the literature. Chemotherapeutic measures be determined by the clinical symptoms and subjective complaints of the patient. By an antibiotic therapy only a temporary loss of complaint and normalization of urinary findings, respectively, were obtained. In the presence of a marked leukocyturia a capsula-fashioned variant of S. saprophyticus was established. By scanning electron microscopy investigations fimbria-like surface structures were detected for the first time in this germ species. Three morphological different appendage structures are described. By a hypothetical model possible functions of these structures in the adherence process are discussed.