Lack of correlation of slime production with pathogenicity in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis peritonitis caused by coagulase negative staphylococci.

In order to evaluate the association of slime production by coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) and pathogenicity in the setting of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), we prospectively studied 23 CAPD patients with positive dialysate cultures for CNS during a 12-mo period. Patients were categorized into groups with peritonitis or contaminants. In addition, 24 skin flora isolates of CNS from nine uninfected CAPD patients were compared to the other two groups. We found 14 patients with peritonitis and nine with contaminants. Fifty percent of the peritonitis isolates produced slime, compared to 67% of the contaminants (p = 0.72) and 54% of the skin flora isolates (p = 0.93). Slime production was not associated with specific antibiotic susceptibility patterns or speciation. In this prospective study, slime production was not associated with pathogenicity in CAPD peritonitis caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci.