Intraoperative gram staining of bile for the prevention of infectious complications in pancreaticoduodenectomy.

INTRODUCTION: Infectious complications play a prominent role in pancreaticoduodenectomy. Their incidence increases in cases with preoperative biliary drainage (PBD), due to the higher risk of bacterobilia. The aim of this study is to evaluate an antibiotherapy protocol based on intraoperative gram staining of bile and its impact on postoperative infectious complications. METHODS: A retrospective study analysing the incidence of infectious complications between two groups of 25 consecutive patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy. In group 1, cefazolin prophylaxis was administered to patients without PBD. In cases with PBD a five days antibiotherapy with piperacillin-tazobactam was administered. In group 2, intraoperative gram staining of bile was routinely performed. If no microorganisms were detected, antibiotherapy was limited to cefazolin prophylaxis. If bacterobilia was detected, targeted antibiotherapy was administered for five days. RESULTS: The incidence of sepsis and organ/space infection in group 2 was 4% compared to 32% and 24% in group 1 respectively (p < 0.05). No differences were observed in the remaining morbimortality variables. The most prevalent microorganisms in bile were Enterococcus spp. and Klebsiella spp. In postoperative samples, they only appeared in 4% of cases in group 2 (p < 0.05), in favour of S. epidermidis, although they were also prevalent in group 1 (28 and 24% respectively). CONCLUSION: Intraoperative gram staining of bile fluid could be a useful tool to conduct personalised antibiotic therapy in pancreaticoduodenectomy and contribute to the control of infectious complications.

Intraoperative gram staining of bile for the prevention of infectious complications in pancreaticoduodenectomy. / Tinción de Gram intraoperatoria en bilis para la prevención de complicaciones infecciosas en la duodenopancreatectomía.

INTRODUCTION: Infectious complications play a prominent role in pancreaticoduodenectomy. Their incidence increases in cases with preoperative biliary drainage (PBD), due to the higher risk of bacterobilia. The aim of this study is to evaluate an antibiotherapy protocol based on intraoperative gram staining of bile and its impact on postoperative infectious complications. METHODS: A retrospective study analysing the incidence of infectious complications between two groups of 25 consecutive patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy. In group 1, cefazolin prophylaxis was administered to patients without PBD. In cases with PBD a five days antibiotherapy with piperacillin-tazobactam was administered. In group 2, intraoperative gram staining of bile was routinely performed. If no microorganisms were detected, antibiotherapy was limited to cefazolin prophylaxis. If bacterobilia was detected, targeted antibiotherapy was administered for five days. RESULTS: The incidence of sepsis and organ/space infection in group 2 was 4% compared to 32% and 24% in group 1 respectively (p<0.05). No differences were observed in the remaining morbimortality variables. The most prevalent microorganisms in bile were Enterococcus spp and Klebsiella spp. In postoperative samples, they only appeared in 4% of cases in group 2 (p<0.05), in favour of S. epidermidis, although they were also prevalent in group 1 (28 and 24% respectively). CONCLUSION: Intraoperative gram staining of bile fluid could be a useful tool to conduct personalised antibiotic therapy in pancreaticoduodenectomy and contribute to the control of infectious complications.

High Prevalence of Sequences Included in Transmission Clusters Within Newly Diagnosed HIV-1 Patients in Southern Spain (2004-2015).

The presence of transmission clusters (TCs) and their epidemiological characteristics in a treatment-naive cohort of HIV-1 patients in southern Spain over a decade (2004-2015) were evaluated. Protease and reverse transcriptase sequences provided by each genotype test were used in the phylogenetic study, performed first by the neighbor-joining method and then confirmed by Bayesian analysis. We collected clinical, immunovirological, and demographic data for all patients included. Our cohort comprised 757 patients, 428 (56.5%) belonging to a TC. Overall, we found 123 TCs, 21 of them comprising five or more individuals and three with ≥10 sequences. Forty-three TCs (35.0%) remained active. The clustered patients were mainly men (92.8%) who had sex with men (MSM) (81.5%), Spanish (80.6%), and young adults (median age at diagnosis of 32.6 years). They had lower percentages of late diagnosis and AIDS cases (42.1% and 13.6%, respectively), whereas the presence of recent seroconverters (31.1%), HIV-1 B subtypes (79.4%), and transmission drug resistance (20.3%) increased within TCs, with regard to not-clustered individuals. Among the TCs of non-B variants, circulating recombinant forms (CRF) were predominant (87.5%), with the highest frequencies for CRF19_cpx (17.0% of non-B subtype sequences in TCs); CRF02_AG (15.9%); and CRF01_AE (9.1%). In conclusion, over half of our cohort was included within a TC. More than a third of TCs found could be considered active transmission events. Belonging to a TC was related to MSM, Spanish origin, recent seroconversion, high prevalence of resistance mutations, and B HIV subtype. Among the non-B genetic forms in TCs, we found a high prevalence of CRF19_cpx, CRF02_AG, and CRF01_AE variants.

OXA-48-Like-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in Southern Spain in 2014-2015.

The aim of this study was to characterize the population structure of 56 OXA-48-like-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates, as well as extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase genes, recovered in 2014 and 2015 from 16 hospitals in southern Spain. XbaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multilocus sequence typing were performed to assess clonal relatedness. Representative isolates belonging to OXA-48-like-producing and CTX-M-15-coproducing pulsotypes were selected for characterization of blaOXA-48-like- and blaCTX-M-15-carrying plasmids by PCR-based replicon typing, IncF subtyping, whole-genome sequencing analysis, and typing of Tn1999 structures. Forty-three OXA-48-producing isolates (77%) were recovered from clinical samples and 13 from rectal swabs. All isolates showed ertapenem MIC values of ≥1 mg/liter, although 70% remained susceptible to imipenem and meropenem. Forty-nine isolates (88%) produced OXA-48, 5 produced OXA-245, and 2 produced OXA-181. Twenty-eight different pulsotypes (5 detected in more than 1 hospital) and 16 sequence types (STs) were found. The most prevalent clones were ST15 (29 isolates [52%]) and ST11 (7 isolates [13%]). Forty-five (80%) isolates were also blaCTX-M-15 carriers. The blaCTX-M-15 gene was mostly (82%) located on IncR plasmids, although ST15 and ST11 isolates also carried this gene on IncF plasmids. The composite transposon variant Tn1999.2-like was the most frequent. Among ST15 and ST11 isolates, different transposon variants were observed. The blaOXA-48 gene was mainly located on IncL plasmids, although IncM plasmids were also observed. The spread of OXA-48-like-producing K. pneumoniae in southern Spain is mainly due to ST15 and ST11 clones. Variation within clonal lineages could indicate different acquisition events for both ESBL and carbapenemase traits.

Gonococcal arthritis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. Review of the literature. / Artritis gonocócica en pacientes con infección por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana. Revisión de la literatura.

We report a case of gonococcal arthritis in a patient with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and review 17 previously published cases; only one patient presented urethritis, and blood cultures were positive in one case. Gonococcal arthritis is rare in HIV-infected patients and is not usually associated with other symptoms. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute arthritis in patients with HIV infection.

Infective endocarditis in patients with bicuspid aortic valve: Clinical characteristics, complications, and prognosis. / Endocarditis infecciosa sobre válvula aórtica bicúspide: características clínicas, complicaciones y pronóstico.

INTRODUCTION: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most frequent congenital cardiac disease. It is associated to a higher risk of cardiovascular complications, including infective endocarditis (IE). METHODS: Retrospective, observational and single centre study that included all patients with IE diagnosed between 1996 and 2014. An analysis was made of the epidemiological, clinical, microbiological and echocardiographic data, complications during hospital admission, need for surgery, in-hospital mortality, and 1-year follow-up. Cases with endocarditis on prosthetic valves or other locations were excluded, as well as those for which the aortic valve morphology had not been accurately defined. A comparative statistical analysis was performed between BAV and tricuspid (TAV). RESULTS: Of a total of 328 cases with IE, 118 (35.67%) were on aortic valve, with 18 (16.22%) of them being BAV. The BAV cases were younger than TAV (51±19.06 vs. 60.83±15.73 years, P=.021) and they had less comorbidity (Charlson 0.67±0.77 vs. 1.44±1.64, P=.03).). There was a higher tendency of Staphylococcal origin (38.9 vs. 21.5%, P=.137), and 55.6% showed peri-valvular complications (TAV 16.1%, P=.001), in particular, abscesses (38.9 vs.16.1%, P=.047). BAV was the only predictive factor of peri-valvular complications (OR 7.87, 95% CI; 2.38-26.64, P=.001). Patients with BAV had more surgery during their admission (83.3 vs. 44.1%, P=.004), had less in-hospital mortality, with no statistical significance (5.6 vs. 25.8%, P=.069), and 1-year survival was significantly superior (93.8 vs 69.3%, P=.048). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with IE on BAV are young, with low comorbidity. They frequently present with peri-valvular complications and they often require early surgery. Compared to TAV cases, in-hospital mortality is lower and 1-year survival is significantly higher.