LA PJIs have a high failure rate. Treatment strategies should be individualized according to patients' age, comorbidity, clinical presentation and microorganism causing the infection.

The objective of this study was to review the characteristics and outcome of prosthetic joint infections (PJI) due to Enterococcus sp. collected in 18 hospitals from six European countries. Patients with a PJI due to Enterococcus sp. diagnosed between January 1999 and July 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Relevant information about demographics, comorbidity, clinical characteristics, microbiological data, surgical treatment and outcome was registered. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed. A total of 203 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean (SD) was 70.4 (13.6) years. In 59 patients the infection was diagnosed within the first 30 days (29.1%) from arthroplasty, in 44 (21.7%) between 31 and 90 days, in 54 (26.6%) between 91 days and 2 years and in 43 (21%) after 2 years. Enterococcus faecalis was isolated in 176 cases (89%). In 107 (54%) patients the infection was polymicrobial. Any comorbidity (OR 2.53, 95% CI 1.18-5.40, p 0.01), and fever (OR 2.65, 95% CI 1.23-5.69, p 0.01) were independently associated with failure. The only factor associated with remission was infections diagnosed later than 2 years (OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.09-0.71, p 0.009). In conclusion, prosthetic joint infections due to Enterococcus sp. were diagnosed within the first 2 years from arthroplasty in >70% of the patients, almost 50% had at least one comorbidity and infections were frequently polymicrobial (54%). The global failure rate was 44% and patients with comorbidities, fever, and diagnosed within the first 2 years from arthroplasty had a poor prognosis.

Purpose Current concepts in the treatment of prosthetic joint infections include prosthetic retention and exchange strategies according to published recommendations. A useful algorithm should fit for each type of prosthetic joint infection, even the most complicated situations. We present the outcome of 147 patients with prosthetic joint infections of the hip or the knee joint in an unselected population in clinical routine. Methods Between November 2006 and November 2009, 147 consecutive patients with prosthetic joint infections of the hip or knee were treated according to an algorithm based on the concept published by Zimmerli et al. in 2004. Causative organism, duration of infection, patient comorbidities, surgical treatment, antibiotic treatment, and outcome of treatment were analysed retrospectively. According to the criteria duration of infection, stability of prosthesis, local and systemic risk factors, and susceptibility of the causative pathogen, patients were treated either with debridement and retention or a longinterval two-stage procedure. Results A pathogen could be detected in 82.8 % of the patients, gram-positive cocci being most common. Twentyseven patients were treated with debridement and retention and 120 were treated with a two-stage procedure. In 68 cases difficult-to-treat pathogens could be detected, a polymicrobial infection was found in 51 patients. Definitely free of infection were 71.6 % after a two-stage procedure, and 70.4 % after debridement and retention. Conclusions Our data indicates that the applied algorithm is suitable to be applied as a day-to-day routine, and we confirmed that published results from the literature can be reproduced in an inhomogeneous patient cohort.

No abstract

Objectives: We evaluated the treatment outcome in late acute (LA) periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) treated with debridement and implant retention (DAIR) versus implant removal. Methods: In a large multicenter study, LA PJIs of the hip and knee were retrospectively evaluated. Failure was defined as: PJI related death, prosthesis removal or the need for suppressive antibiotic therapy. LA PJI was defined as acute symptoms < 3 weeks in patients more than 3 months after the index surgery and with a history of normal joint function. Results: 445 patients were included, comprising 340 cases treated with DAIR and 105 cases treated with implant removal (19% one-stage revision (n = 20), 74.3% two-stage revision (n = 78) and 6.7% definitive implant removal (n = 7). Overall failure in patients treated with DAIR was 45.0% (153/340) compared to 24.8% (26/105) for implant removal (p < 0.001). Difference in failure rate remained after 1:1 propensityscore matching. A preoperative CRIME80-score ≥3 (OR 2.9), PJI caused by S. aureus (OR 1.8) and implant retention (OR 3.1) were independent predictors for failure in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: DAIR is a viable surgical treatment for most patients with LA PJI, but implant removal should be considered in a subset of patients, especially in those with a CRIME80-score ≥3.

No abstract

b Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) screening using real-time PCR has decreased in sensitivity due to the emergence of variant staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec element (SCCmec) types. We have designed and validated a novel SCCmec XI primer, which enables for the first time the rapid detection of mecC-harboring MRSA directly from nasopharyngeal swabs without prior cultivation. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major public health problem affecting the therapy of nosocomial, community-acquired, and livestock-associated infections and requiring the implementation of infection control and preventive measures (1). Resistance to ␤-lactam antibiotics is mediated by expression of penicillin-binding protein PBP2a. The encoding gene, mecA, is localized on the mobile staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec element (SCCmec), which exists in variant types and subtypes (http://www.sccmec .org). A rapid screening for MRSA-colonized patients is possible using a SCCmec-orfX-based MRSA-screening PCR. The initial TaqMan PCR described in 2004 by Huletsky et al., comprised five SCCmec forward primers targeting the right extremity of the main SCCmec types and a reverse primer targeting the S. aureus-specific orfX gene (2), thus amplifying an entity within the MRSA genome sequence, which was detected by a degenerate TaqMan probe. A modified PCR published in 2011 extended the MRSA screening to rare SCCmec types (3).In 2011, a highly divergent mec gene, mecC, on novel SCCmec

Aims The aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence of culture-negative periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs) when adequate methods of culture are used, and to evaluate the outcome in patients who were treated with antibiotics for a culture-negative PJI compared with those in whom antibiotics were withheld. Methods A multicentre observational study was undertaken: 1,553 acute and 1,556 chronic PJIs, diagnosed between 2013 and 2018, were retrospectively analyzed. Culture-negative PJIs were diagnosed according to the Muskuloskeletal Infection Society (MSIS), International Consensus Meeting (ICM), and European Bone and Joint Society (EBJIS) definitions. The primary outcome was recurrent infection, and the secondary outcome was removal of the prosthetic components for any indication, both during a follow-up period of two years. Results None of the acute PJIs and 70 of the chronic PJIs (4.7%) were culture-negative; a total of 36 culture-negative PJIs (51%) were treated with antibiotics, particularly those with histological signs of infection. After two years of follow-up, no recurrent infections occurred in patients in whom antibiotics were withheld. The requirement for removal of the components for any indication during follow-up was not significantly different in those who received antibiotics compared with those in whom antibiotics were withheld (7.1% vs 2.9%; p = 0.431). Conclusion When adequate methods of culture are used, the incidence of culture-negative PJIs is low. In patients with culture-negative PJI, antibiotic treatment can probably be withheld if there are no histological signs of infection. In all other patients, diagnostic efforts should be made to identify the causative microorganism by means of serology or molecular techniques. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2022;104-B(1):183–188.