Production of extracellular slime by coryneforms colonizing hydrocephalus shunts

Abstract

Corynebacterium spp. are responsible for an important minority of cases of colonization of cerebrospinal fluid shunts used for the treatment of hydrocephalus. In common with coagulase-negative staphylococci, they present a serious therapeutic problem because they are often resistant to multiple antibiotics. We studied the morphologies of coryneforms in colonized hydrocephalus shunts removed from patients and observed extracellular slime similar in appearance to that seen in coagulase-negative staphylococci. We also studied a series of such isolates from other cases of hydrocephalus shunt colonization using an established laboratory model and consistently observed slime production in these shunts as well. We propose that this might be a further reason for failure to eradicate these organisms without shunt removal as well as a factor in their pathogenesis in device-related infections.