ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Streptococcus tigurinus was recently described as a new streptococcal species within the viridans group streptococci (VGS). The objectives of the present work were to analyse the clinical and microbiological characteristics of S. tigurinus isolated from patients with bacteraemias, to determine the prevalence of S. tigurinus among VGS endocarditis in Spain, and to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of endocarditis caused by S. tigurinus and other VGS. METHODS: Retrospective nationwide study, performed between 2008 and 2016 in 9 Spanish hospitals from 7 different provinces comprising 237 cases of infective endocarditis. Streptococcal isolates were identified by sequencing fragments of their 16S rRNA, sodA and groEL genes. Clinical data of patients with streptococcal endocarditis were prospectively collected according to a pre-established protocol. RESULTS: Patients with endocarditis represented 7/9 (77.8%) and 26/86 (30.2%) of the bacteraemias caused by S. tigurinus and other VGS, respectively (p < 0.001), in two of the hospital participants. Among patients with streptococcal endocarditis, 12 different Streptococcus species were recognized being S. oralis, S. tigurinus and S. mitis the three more common. No relevant statistical differences were observed in the clinical characteristics and outcomes of endocarditis caused by the different VGS species. CONCLUSIONS: In this multicenter study performed in Spain, S. tigurinus showed a higher predilection for the endocardial endothelium as compared to other VGS. However, clinical characteristics and outcomes of endocarditis caused by S. tigurinus did not significantly differ from endocarditis caused by other oral streptococci.