PFGE patterns of hetero-VISA and VSMRSA. Lanes; M, Lambda Ladder PFG Marker (New England Biolabs); lanes C1 to C3, control strains Mus3 (hetero-VISA [Japan]), Mu50 (VISA [Japan]), and AMC11094 (VISA [Korea]), respectively; lanes 1 to 22, hetero-VISA isolates 1 to 22 from the study; lanes S1 to S13, VSMRSA isolates S1 to S13 from this study. Hetero-VISA isolates 2, 4, 7, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22, are designated as type A0, show a PFGE pattern identical to that of the Korean VISA. Isolates 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, and 21, designated as type A1, show a 1-band difference; hetero-VISA isolate 9, type A2, shows a 3-band difference (a two-band difference from type A1); hetero-VISA isolates 1 and 15, type B and C, respectively, show a >6-band difference. All VSMRSA isolates, except S5 (type A), show various patterns and differ from type A by more than six bands.