Clinical Identifiers of Complicated Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia

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Abstract
STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS bacteremia (SAB) is a serious, common infection.1,2 Complications of SAB such as infective endocarditis3-6 and vertebral osteomyelitis7 are also common but are often difficult to identify at the time of the initial positive blood culture result.8-16 For example, in a recent report of 260 patients with SAB due to infective endocarditis, the diagnosis of endocarditis was not clinically suspected and was first detected at autopsy in 32% of patients.13 Failure to identify such complications of SAB may lead to relapsing bacteremia17 or catastrophic outcomes.18 Thus, predicting the likelihood of these complications may greatly impact patient management.