Ceftazidime/avibactam in the era of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae: experience from a national registry study.

BACKGROUND: Infections caused by KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) are associated with high mortality. Therefore, new treatment options are urgently required. OBJECTIVES: To assess the outcomes and predictors of mortality in patients with KPC- or OXA-48-Kp infections treated with ceftazidime/avibactam with an emphasis on KPC-Kp bloodstream infections (BSIs). METHODS: A multicentre prospective observational study was conducted between January 2018 and March 2019. Patients with KPC- or OXA-48-Kp infections treated with ceftazidime/avibactam were included in the analysis. The subgroup of patients with KPC-Kp BSIs treated with ceftazidime/avibactam was matched by propensity score with a cohort of patients whose KPC-Kp BSIs had been treated with agents other than ceftazidime/avibactam with in vitro activity. RESULTS: One hundred and forty-seven patients were identified; 140 were infected with KPC producers and 7 with OXA-48 producers. For targeted therapy, 68 (46.3%) patients received monotherapy with ceftazidime/avibactam and 79 (53.7%) patients received ceftazidime/avibactam in combination with at least another active agent. The 14 and 28 day mortality rates were 9% and 20%, respectively. The 28 day mortality among the 71 patients with KPC-Kp BSIs treated with ceftazidime/avibactam was significantly lower than that observed in the 71 matched patients, whose KPC-Kp BSIs had been treated with agents other than ceftazidime/avibactam (18.3% versus 40.8%; P = 0.005). In the Cox proportional hazards model, ultimately fatal disease, rapidly fatal disease and Charlson comorbidity index ≥2 were independent predictors of death, whereas treatment with ceftazidime/avibactam-containing regimens was the only independent predictor of survival. CONCLUSIONS: Ceftazidime/avibactam appears to be an effective treatment against serious infections caused by KPC-Kp.

Invasive methods for the diagnosis and management of intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis: A literature review.

BACKGROUND: Extramedullary hematopoiesis is defined as hematopoiesis occurring outside of the bone marrow. It usually compensates insufficient bone marrow function or ineffective erythropoiesis and is observed mostly in hematological disorders. Most common locations of extramedullary hematopoiesis are the spleen, the liver and the lymph nodes. Intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis is rare presenting as bilateral lobulated masses of lower paravertebral regions. This review summarizes the role of invasive techniques in the diagnosis and management of intrathoracic EMH and its complications. METHODS: An electronic search in PubMed and Google Scholar was conducted with the keywords "intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis" AND "surgery" OR "video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS)" OR "medical thoracoscopy" OR "biopsy" OR "thoracotomy" OR "image-guided biopsy" OR "median sternotomy", within 1970 to 2020 with the limitation of English language to include those articles reporting data on invasive techniques in intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis. RESULTS: Overall, 93 articles were originally identified using our search criteria and from the reference list of the previously identified documents. Following elimination of duplicates, 29 were excluded after title, abstract or full text screening, since they did not report the use of invasive techniques in the diagnosis and management of intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis. CONCLUSIONS: Although in some cases radiological features are typical for the diagnosis of intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoeisis, invasive methods such as bronchoscopy with transbronchial biopsy, ιmage-guided fine needle aspiration, endobronchial ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration of the mass and mediastinoscopy, medical thoracoscopy, median sternotomy, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and thoracotomy, are essential for definite diagnosis and management.