Characterization of Mycobacterium chimaera in a heater-cooler unit in Latvia

Abstract

To the Editor-Mycobacterium chimaera (M. chimaera) is an opportunistic environmental mycobacterium belonging to the M. avium-M. intracellulare complex. Transmission of M. chimaera from contaminated heater-cooler unit (HCU) water tanks to patients is a risk during open-heart surgery. 1 Specifically, investigations have revealed that the contaminated HCU devices (Stockert 3T) came from one particular manufacturing facility, LivaNova in Munich, Germany, and were a likely source for cardiothoracic surgery-related severe M. chimaera infections that occurred in Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. 2 The importance of HCUs lies in their ability to regulate the body temperature of a patient during cardiac surgery. However, evidence suggests that the airborne transmission of aerosolized bacteria from the water tanks was responsible for these infections. 2 Currently, the extent of global outbreaks is unknown, but the burden of invasive M. chimaera was estimated to be 156-282 cases per year in 10 countries where most cardiac-valve replacements are performed. 3 We investigated the possible presence of M. chimaera in HCUs in the Cardiothoracic Department,

In vitro assessment of 17 antimicrobial agents against clinical Mycobacterium avium complex isolates

“…M. chimaera, one of the species of M. intracellulare, is transmitted through contaminated catheters and often causes disseminated and life-threatening infections in people who have undergone open-heart surgery [9,10]. As for M. colombiense and M. marseillense, they are genetically different from M. avium and M. intracellulare [11,12].…”