Mycobacterium chimaera Contamination of Cardiac Surgery Devices

Identification of clusters of invasive Mycobacterium chimaera infections in cardiopulmonary bypass patients in Switzerland and the U.S. prompted investigations into the infections' source. Researchers now report results of these investigations.

In Switzerland in the spring of 2015, six patients developed invasive infection with M. chimaera, a ubiquitous member of the M. avium complex, following open heart surgery. The source of infection was traced to a heater-cooler device. In Pennsylvania later that same year, a similar cluster was traced to the Stöckert 3T heater-cooler device, produced by a single German company. The water used to maintain temperature is, theoretically, not in contact with the circulating blood; the investigations sugges…