Impact of removing ESBL status labelling from culture reports on the use of carbapenems for non-bacteraemic patients diagnosed with ESBL-positive urinary tract infections.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate carbapenem prescribing rates for initial definitive treatment of urinary tract infections and clinical outcomes before and after removing ESBL status labels on antibiotic susceptibility reports. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of adult patients treated for at least 48 h for an ESBL-producing/ceftriaxone-resistant Enterobacterales urinary tract infection. ESBL status reporting ceased in September 2022 for a network of seven community hospitals within the USA. The primary endpoint was the rate of carbapenem prescribing for initial definitive treatment of urinary tract infections. Secondary endpoints included total days of therapy for initial definitive treatment with carbapenems, clinical cure rates, time to transition to oral antibiotic therapy for initial definitive treatment, rate of guideline-compliant therapy, rate of relapsed infection within 30 days, 30 day readmission rate, and 30 day all-cause in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Of 3055 patients screened, 199 were included in the pre group and 153 were included in the post group. The rate of carbapenem prescribing for initial definitive treatment was 156 patients (78%) in the pre group, compared with 93 patients (61%) in the post group (P = <0.01). Days of therapy for initial definitive therapy with carbapenem was 620 in the pre group compared with 372 in the post group (P < 0.01). There was no difference between other secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Removing ESBL status labels from laboratory reports reduced carbapenem use for initial definitive treatment of urinary tract infections from 78% to 61% (P < 0.01) without impacting clinical outcomes.

Impact of a monthly antimicrobial stewardship quality assurance tool for elevated vancomycin levels.

Objective: We sought to determine the value of an audit-and-feedback monitoring method in facilitating meaningful practice changes to improve vancomycin dosing and monitoring. Design: Retrospective, multicenter, before-and-after implementation observational quality assurance initiative. Setting: The study was conducted in 7 not-for-profit, acute-care hospitals within a health system in southern Florida. Methods: The preimplementation period (September 1, 2019, through August 31, 2020) was compared to the postimplementation period (September 1, 2020, through May 31, 2022). All vancomycin serum-level results were screened for inclusion. The primary end point was the rate of fallout, defined as vancomycin serum level ≥25 µg/mL with acute kidney injury (AKI) and off-protocol dosing and monitoring. Secondary end points included the rate of fallout with respect to AKI severity, rate of vancomycin serum levels ≥25 µg/mL, and average number of serum-level evaluations per unique vancomycin patient. Results: In total, 27,611 vancomycin levels were analyzed from 13,910 unique patients. There were 2,209 vancomycin serum levels ≥25 µg/mL (8%) among 1,652 unique patients (11.9%). AKI was identified in 379 unique patients (23%) with a vancomycin levels ≥25 µg/mL. In total, 60 fallouts (35.2%) occurred in the 12-month preimplementation period (∼5 per month) and 41 fallouts (19.6%) occurred in the 21-month postimplementation period (∼2 per month; P = .0006). Failure was the most common AKI severity in both periods (risk: 35% vs 24.3%, P = .25; injury: 28.3% vs 19.5%, P = .30; failure: 36.7% vs 56%, P = .053). Overall, the number of evaluations of vancomycin serum levels per unique patient remained consistent throughout both periods (2 vs 2; P = .53). Conclusions: Implementation of a monthly quality assurance tool for elevated outlier vancomycin levels can improve dosing and monitoring practices resulting in enhanced patient safety.

Therapeutic drug monitoring of flucytosine in a cardiac transplant patient receiving continuous veno-venous hemofiltration and intermittent hemodialysis: A case report.

Invasive candidiasis is one of the common infections in solid organ transplant recipients. Guidelines recommend echinocandins or liposomal amphotericin with consideration of flucytosine (5-fluorocytosine; 5-FC) as synergistic therapy for treatment of select deep-seated Candida infections, including complex endovascular infections. Flucytosine undergoes extensive renal elimination; however, optimal dosing in patients with renal impairment, or those requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT), is not well-established. We describe a case of a 60-year old female who underwent orthotopic heart transplant complicated by Candida parapsilosis complex fungemia with mediastinitis and development of end-stage renal disease requiring RRT. Flucytosine therapeutic drug monitoring was performed on continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) and intermittent hemodialysis (iHD) to guide appropriate dosing. Our results support 5-FC doses of 25 mg/kg daily while undergoing CVVH with a low fluid replacement rate and 21 mg/kg post-iHD or 17 mg/kg daily while receiving thrice weekly iHD.