Cited by 325Antimicrobial Resistance in StaphylococcusBacterial biofilms and quorum sensingBacterial Genetics and Biotechnology

Clinical Significance and Pathogenesis of Staphylococcal Small Colony Variants in Persistent Infections

Open access
Kahl, Barbara C., Becker, Karsten, Löffler, Bettina·2016·Clinical Microbiology Reviews

Abstract

SUMMARY: Small colony variants (SCVs) were first described more than 100 years ago for Staphylococcus aureus and various coagulase-negative staphylococci. Two decades ago, an association between chronic staphylococcal infections and the presence of SCVs was observed. Since then, many clinical studies and observations have been published which tie recurrent, persistent staphylococcal infections, including device-associated infections, bone and tissue infections, and airway infections of cystic fibrosis patients, to this special phenotype. By their intracellular lifestyle, SCVs exhibit so-called phenotypic (or functional) resistance beyond the classical resistance mechanisms, and they can often be retrieved from therapy-refractory courses of infection. In this review, the various clinical infections where SCVs can be expected and isolated, diagnostic procedures for optimized species confirmation, and the pathogenesis of SCVs, including defined underlying molecular mechanisms and the phenotype switch phenomenon, are presented. Moreover, relevant animal models and suggested treatment regimens, as well as the requirements for future research areas, are highlighted.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1128/cmr.00069-15

Cites

223 of 223 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kahl, B. C., Becker, K., & Löffler, B.
Affiliations
  • University Hospital Münster (DE)
  • Jena University Hospital (DE)
Venue
Clinical Microbiology Reviews
Published
2016-04
Volume
29
Issue
2
Pages
401-427
ISSN
  • 0893-8512 (ISSN-L)
  • 1098-6618
OpenAlex
W2293222550
Cited by
325
References
223
Citations by year
2026: 24 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 34 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 5
FWCI
4.05
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Clinical Microbiology Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Antimicrobial Resistance in Staphylococcus
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bacterial biofilms and quorum sensing
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
Keywords
small colony variants, Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, device-related infection, phenotypic antibiotic resistance, intracellular lifestyle, phenotypic switching, species identification, pathogenesis, animal models, treatment regimens
MeSH terms
Animals, Cross Infection, Disease Models, Animal, Humans, Phenotype, Staphylococcal Infections, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacterial Typing Techniques

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review