Loading...
Bacterial contamination of ultrasound transmission gel by Klebsiella, Burkholderia, Achromobacter, and Staphylococcus aureus has been reported previously.
In December 2011, epidemiologists at the Beaumont Health System in Michigan noted a sharp increase in the number of Pseudomonas aeruginosa–positive respiratory cultures from a surgical intensive care unit. Of 16 source patients, 2 had pneumonia, 5 had tracheobronchitis, and 11 had only respiratory tract colonization. All had undergone cardiovascular surgery during which intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) had been used. Time from operation to positive culture was 2 to 14 days (median, 5 days). Patients who had undergone valvular surgery alone were at higher risk than thos…