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Infection management in a patient with a left ventricular assist device: a case report of long-term cefazolin sodium hydrate administration

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Abstract

A 55-year-old woman suffered from a bloodstream infection (Staphylococcus aureus), which originated from pump inflow and outflow skin exits, from 4 months after a parocorporeal left ventricular assist device (LVAD) had been implanted. In addition to local irrigation, repeated administration of a weekly unit of cefazolin hydrate was temporarily effective, but fever frequently recurred. Because short-term antibiotic administration had limited effectiveness, a much longer-term course of cefazolin was begun at 14 months post-LVAD implantation and was planned to continue until future transplantation. Unfortunately, the patient died from a cerebral embolism at 19 months after LVAD implantation; long-term consecutive cefazolin administration had suppressed the infection for over 5 months without side effects. To treat intractable LVAD-associated bloodstream infection, long-term administration of a narrow-spectrum beta-lactam drug is an effective option.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume, 830-0011, Japan

    Eiki Tayama MD, Koichi Arinaga MD, Takahiro Shojima MD, Kazuyoshi Takagi MD, Yoshinori Yokokura MD, Kazuhiro Yoshikawa MD, Hidetsugu Hori MD, Shuji Fukunaga MD, Hidetoshi Akashi MD & Shigeaki Aoyagi MD

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  1. Eiki Tayama MD
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  2. Koichi Arinaga MD
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  3. Takahiro Shojima MD
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  4. Kazuyoshi Takagi MD
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  5. Yoshinori Yokokura MD
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  6. Kazuhiro Yoshikawa MD
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  7. Hidetsugu Hori MD
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  8. Shuji Fukunaga MD
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  9. Hidetoshi Akashi MD
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  10. Shigeaki Aoyagi MD
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Correspondence to Eiki Tayama MD.

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Tayama, E., Arinaga, K., Shojima, T. et al. Infection management in a patient with a left ventricular assist device: a case report of long-term cefazolin sodium hydrate administration. J Artif Organs 9, 118–121 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10047-006-0331-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10047-006-0331-6

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