Abstract
BackgroundIt has been challenging to determine the true clinical impact of Acinetobacter spp., due to the predilection of this pathogen to colonize and infect critically ill patients, who often have a poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to assess whether Acinetobacter spp. bacteremia is associated with lower survival compared with bacteremia caused by other pathogens in critically ill patients.MethodsThis study was performed at Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo, Brazil. There are 12 intensive care units (ICUs) in the hospital: five Internal Medicine ICUs (emergency, nephrology, infectious diseases and respiratory critical care), three surgical ICU (for general surgery and liver transplantion), an Emergency Department ICU for trauma patients, an ICU for burned patients, a neurosurgical ICU and a post-operative ICU. A retrospective review of medical records was conducted for all patients admitted to any of the ICUs, who developed bacteremia from January 2010 through December 2011. Patients with Acinetobacter spp. were compared with those with other pathogens (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter spp., Enterococcus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa). We did a 30-day survival analysis. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used to determine the overall survival. Potential prognostic factors were identified by bivariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis.ResultsOne hundred forty-one patients were evaluated. No differences between patients with Acinetobacter spp. and other pathogens were observed with regard to age, sex, APACHE II score, Charlson Comorbidity Score and type of infection. Initial inappropriate antimicrobial treatment was more frequent in Acinetobacter bacteremia (88 % vs 51 %). Bivariate analysis showed that age > 60 years, diabetes mellitus, and Acinetobacter spp. infection were significantly associated with a poor prognosis. Multivariate model showed that Acinetobacter spp. infection (HR = 1.93, 95 % CI: 1.25–2.97) and age > 60 years were independent prognostic factors.ConclusionAcinetobacter is associated with lower survival compared with other pathogens in critically ill patients with bacteremia, and is not merely a marker of disease severity.
Highlights
It has been challenging to determine the true clinical impact of Acinetobacter spp., due to the predilection of this pathogen to colonize and infect critically ill patients, who often have a poor prognosis
Patients with Acinetobacter spp. bacteremia were compared with patients with bacteremia caused by other pathogens (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter spp., Enterococcus spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa)
Data analysis We initially conducted a descriptive analysis comparing patients with Acinetobacter spp. bacteremia and patients with bacteremia caused by other pathogens
Summary
It has been challenging to determine the true clinical impact of Acinetobacter spp., due to the predilection of this pathogen to colonize and infect critically ill patients, who often have a poor prognosis. When outcomes from Acinetobacter baumannii were compared directly with those of patients who had bacteremia caused by other organisms, a significantly higher mortality was noted for A. baumannii [2, 5]. None of these studies used a formal, standardized method to adjust for severity of illness or comorbidities, such as APACHE or Charlson score. Tonacio et al [7] found 30 % of mortality in patients with Acinetobacter spp. infections and trauma was a marker of good prognosis in those patients
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