Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bacteremia: epidemiology, clinical characteristics and prognostic factors

The epidemiologic, clinical and prognostic characteristics of Stenotrophomo nas maltophilia bacteremias for a six-year period (January 1993 to December 1998) were reviewed. Twenty episodes of S. maltophilia bacteremia were inc lude, which represented 0.62% of all bacteremias caused by gram-negative ro ds during that period. Seventy percent of bacteremias were clinically signi ficant. The most common predisposing factors were the previous use of antim icrobial agents and the presence of vascular catheters. In most cases (57%) , the origin of bacteremia was the intravascular catheter. The course of pa tients was favorable and all patients cured.