• Roman Mounier, Natacha Kapandji, Guillaume Gricourt, David Lobo, Christophe Rodriguez, Stéphanie Pons, Chakib Djediat, Paul-Louis Woerther, Vincent Mellano, Bouziane Aït-Mamar, Vanessa Demontant, Biba Nebbad, Suhan Senova, Melissa Arnaud, Fabrice Cook, Gilles Dhonneur, and David Lebeaux.
• Department of Anesthesia and Surgical Intensive Care, Henri Mondor University Hospital of Paris, Paris-Est Créteil University, 51, Avenue du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny, 94000, Créteil, France. roman.mounier@laposte.net.
• Neurocrit Care. 2021 Jun 1; 34 (3): 814824814-824.

ObjectivesCerebral infections related to the presence of an intraparenchymal intracranial pressure transducer (ICPT) are rare. We assessed the incidence of ICPT-related infections and colonization using culture, molecular biology, and electron microscopy.MethodsAll consecutive patients in a neurosurgical intensive care unit who had an ICPT inserted between March 2017 and February 2018 were prospectively included. Presence of colonization on the ICPTs was assessed after removal using culture, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and next-generation sequencing (NGS).ResultsFifty-three ICPTs (53 patients), indwelling for a median of 4 (range 3-7) days, were studied. Median patient follow-up was 3 months. SEM, microbial culture, and NGS were performed for 91%, 79%, and 72% of ICPTs, respectively; 28 ICPTs (53%) were assessed using all three techniques. No patient developed ICPT-related infection. Microbial cultures were positive for two of the ICPTs (5%); colonization was identified on all ICPTs using NGS and SEM. Mature biofilm was observed on 35/48 (73%) of ICPTs. A median of 10 (8-12) operational taxonomic units were identified for each ICPT, most being of environmental origin. There was no association between biofilm maturity and antimicrobial treatment or duration of ICPT insertion. Antimicrobial treatment was associated with decreased alpha and beta-diversity (p = 0.01).ConclusionsWe observed no ICPT-related cerebral infections although colonization was identified on all ICPTs using NGS and SEM. Mature biofilm was the main bacterial lifestyle on the ICPTs.

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