An Evaluation of the Role of Surface Hydrophobicity and Extracellular Slime in the Pathogenesis of Foreign-Body-Related Infections due to Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci

Abstract

Modern medicine would be unthinkable without the use of a bewildering array of foreign devices. Intravascular catheters and monitoring devices, artificial joints, prosthetic heart valves, and many other prosthetic devices have become essential elements of the medical armamentarium.