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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, January 2007, p. 168-172, Vol. 45, No. 1
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.01510-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Prevalence and Clinical Significance of Staphylococcus aureus Small-Colony Variants in Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease

Institute of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control,¹ Department of Pulmonology and Allergology,² Department of Pediatrics,³ Department of Biomathematics, University Hospital of Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany⁴

Received 21 July 2006/ Returned for modification 22 September 2006/ Accepted 6 November 2006

Small-colony variants (SCVs) of Staphylococcus aureus can be isolated from the chronically infected airways of patients suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF). These slow-growing morphological variants have been associated with persistent and antibiotic-resistant infections, such as osteomyelitis and device-related infections, but no information is available to date regarding the clinical significance of this special phenotype in CF lung disease. We therefore investigated the prevalence of S. aureus SCVs in CF lung disease in a 12-month prospective study and correlated the microbiological culture results with the patients' clinical data. A total of 252 patients were screened for the presence of SCVs. The prevalence rate was determined to be 17% (95% confidence interval, 10 to 25%) among S. aureus carriers. S. aureus isolates with the SCV phenotype showed significantly higher antibiotic resistance rates than those with the normal phenotype. Patients positive for SCVs were significantly older (P = 0.0099), more commonly cocolonized with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P = 0.0454), and showed signs of more advanced disease, such as lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s (P = 0.0148) than patients harboring S. aureus with a solely normal phenotype. The logistic regression model determined lower weight (P = 0.016), advanced age (P = 0.000), and prior use of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (P = 0.002) as independent risk factors for S. aureus SCV positivity. The clinical status of CF patients is known to be affected by multiple parameters. Nonetheless, the independent risk factors determined here point to the impact of S. aureus SCVs on chronic and persistent infections in advanced CF lung disease.

Published ahead of print on 15 November 2006.

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