Sternal wound infection caused by : identification by MALDI-TOF MS.

INTRODUCTION

spp. infections are uncommon. However, a few clinical cases have been reported in the literature, particularly those involving immunocompromised hosts. Advanced microbiology diagnosis techniques, such as matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight MS (MALDI-TOF MS), have been recently introduced in clinical microbiology laboratories in order to improve microbial identification, resulting in better patient management.

CASE PRESENTATION

Here, we present a new clinical case of persistent wound infection caused by in a 64-year-old woman after a mitral valve replacement, using two MALDI-TOF-based systems for identifying this micro-organism.

CONCLUSION

Both MALDI-TOF systems were able to identify spp.; thus, providing a useful tool that overcomes the current limitations of phenotypic identification associated with this micro-organism. Although the technique validation deserves additional verification, our study provides guidance about MALDI-TOF as a fast and easy method for spp. identification.