A 74-year-old male admitted for altered mental status from an outside hospital (OSH) had a past medical history (PMH) of diabetes mellitus (DM), diabetic retinopathy, and atrial fibrillation. Blood and urine cultures revealed MSSA, and treatment was de-escalated from vancomycin to ceftriaxone 2 g every 24 h on day 3. Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) revealed no vegetations, but an epidural abscess was identified on day 4. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed septic brain emboli. He was discharged on hospital day 44, and ceftriaxone therapy was continued for 8 additional weeks.
A 19-year-old male admitted for possible meningitis presented with numbness and fever and developed acute paraplegia secondary to a spinal abscess. Surgical and blood cultures revealed MSSA on day 1, then the patient developed sepsis secondary to a pulmonary septic embolus. Vancomycin was discontinued, and oxacillin 2 g every 4 h was initiated on day 4. He had negative blood cultures on day 6. On day 14, he was discharged to rehabilitation on ceftriaxone 2 g every 24 h for 8 weeks.