Bacterial infection found in 25 surgery cases--paper

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Bacterial infection found in 25 surgery cases--paper

NEW YORK, Mar 15 (Reuters) - Federal officials found 25 more cases of

serious bacterial infections in people who received operations similar

to that received by a young Minnesota man who died after routine knee

surgery, The New York Times reported in its online edition on Friday.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in

Atlanta said a single tissue-processing company had been involved in 14

of the 26 cases, including the fatal one four months ago, the paper

reported.

Though the CDC report did not name the company, it has been widely

identified as medical device company CryoLife, the Times said. The paper

cited a CryoLife executive acknowledging that half the patients with

serious infections had received implants from the company.

The agency also said the tissue that had fatally infected 23-year-old

Lykins, a Minnesotan undergoing kneecap repair surgery, had not

been refrigerated until 19 hours after the donor's death, by which time

lethal bacteria from his intestines might have migrated to the rest of

his body, the Times said.

In December, CryoLife said it was cooperating with regulatory agencies

in an investigation into the deaths of knee surgery patients in

Minnesota, one of whom used a CryoLife product.

The investigation focused on the possibility of the death being related

to a rare bacterial infection caused by a spore-forming bacterium that

is normally found in soil, the company said.