Once weekly fluconazole for antifungal prophylaxis post-liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infections (IFI) remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) recipients. In this retrospective study, the outcomes of a protocol using once weekly fluconazole for 3 months after OLT in low- and high-risk patients were reviewed. METHODS: In total, 221 OLTs were evaluated in the 3-year period after institution of the new protocol to determine the incidence of IFI within 6 months post-OLT. RESULTS: In this cohort, 11 IFIs developed during the 6-month post-transplant period, with the majority being non-albicans Candida. High-risk patients had a greater rate of IFI (16.7% versus 3.4%, P = 0.038) and a significantly longer intensive unit care (ICU) and hospital lengths of stay compared with low-risk patients. Patient and graft survival were similar between the groups. Our patient population appeared to be at low risk for IFI, with 92% of the entire cohort considered low risk. DISCUSSION: Given the low incidence of IFI in the low-risk group and the possibility of such protocol selecting out for fluconazole-resistant fungi, the use of weekly fluconazole for 3 months may not be justifiable in low-risk OLT recipients. Given the increased resource utilization observed with IFI, further examination of a more intensive prophylactic strategy in high-risk patients may be warranted.

Predictors of 30-day mortality and hospital costs in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia attributed to potentially antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria.

OBJECTIVE: To identify predictors of 30-day mortality and hospital costs in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) attributed to potentially antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (PARGNB) [Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter species, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia]. DESIGN: A retrospective, single-center, observational cohort study. SETTING: Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a 1,200-bed urban teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Adult patients requiring hospitalization with microbiologically confirmed VAP attributed to PARGNB. INTERVENTIONS: Retrospective data collection from automated hospital, microbiology, and pharmacy databases. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Seventy-six patients with VAP attributed to PARGNB were identified over a 5-year period. Nineteen patients (25.0%) died during hospitalization. Patients receiving their first dose of appropriate antibiotic therapy within 24 h of BAL sampling had a statistically lower 30-day mortality rate compared to patients receiving the first dose of appropriate therapy >24 h after BAL (17.2% vs 50.0%; p = 0.005). VAP due to Acinetobacter species was most often initially treated with an inappropriate antibiotic regimen, followed by S maltophilia and P aeruginosa (66.7% vs 33.3% vs 17.2%; p = 0.017). Overall, total hospitalization costs were statistically similar in patients initially treated with an inappropriate antibiotic regimen compared to an appropriate regimen ($68,597 +/- $55,466 vs $86,644 +/- $64,433; p = 0.390). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that inappropriate initial antibiotic therapy of microbiologically confirmed VAP attributed to PARGNB is associated with greater 30-day mortality. High rates of VAP attributed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria (eg, Acinetobacter species) may require changes in the local empiric antibiotic treatment of VAP in order to optimize the prescription of appropriate initial therapy.