Successful treatment of vancomycin-resistant enterococcal infection of an external ventricular drain with 2 weeks of intravenous linezolid.
Michael D CearnsBruce T McLintockNigel SuttnerKamaljit KhalsaPublished in: Access microbiology (2022)
Hydrocephalus is a common condition worldwide, and is frequently managed by diversion of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), either externally with a drain or internally with a shunt. An external ventricular drain (EVD) can be an essential treatment modality, but is associated with a risk of infection, most commonly caused by Staphylococcal species, which can result in meningitis or ventriculitis and a delay in the definitive management of the hydrocephalus. Here, we report the case of a patient who required an EVD to manage post-operative hydrocephalus following a craniotomy and microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia. He subsequently developed EVD-associated infection with a vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), which was treated successfully with a 2-week course of intravenous linezolid monotherapy. The authors believe this to be the only described case of successful treatment within this time frame of a CSF VRE infection associated with indwelling foreign material.
Keyphrases
- cerebrospinal fluid
- methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- heart failure
- left ventricular
- high dose
- staphylococcus aureus
- squamous cell carcinoma
- randomized controlled trial
- atrial fibrillation
- brain injury
- escherichia coli
- pulmonary artery
- minimally invasive
- coronary artery
- catheter ablation
- spinal cord
- preterm birth
- candida albicans