Prognostic value of serial (1,3)-ß-D-glucan measurements in ICU patients with invasive candidiasis.

BACKGROUND: To determine whether a decrease in serum (1,3)-ß-D-glucan (BDG) was associated with reduced mortality and to investigate the performance of BDG downslope in predicting clinical outcome in invasive candidiasis. METHODS: Observational cohort study in ICU patients over a ten-year period (2012-2022) in Italy. Proven invasive candidiasis with at least 2 BDG determinations were considered. RESULTS: In the study population of 103 patients (age 47 [35-62] years, SAPS II score 67 [52-77]) 68 bloodstream and 35 intrabdominal infections were recorded. Serial measurements showed that in 54 patients BDG decreased over time (BDG downslope group) while in 49 did not (N-BDG downslope group). Candida albicans was the pathogen most frequently isolated (61%) followed by C. parapsilosis (17%) and C. glabrata (12%), in absence of any inter-group difference. Invasive candidiasis related mortality was lower in BDG downslope than in N-BDG downslope group (17% vs 53%, p < 0.01). The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed the association of septic shock at infection occurrence and chronic liver disease with invasive candidiasis mortality (HR [95% CI] 3.24 [1.25-8.44] p = 0.02 and 7.27 [2.33-22.66] p < 0.01, respectively) while a BDG downslope was the only predictor of survival (HR [95% CI] 0.19 [0.09-0.43] p < 0.01). The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve for the performance of BDG downslope as predictor of good clinical outcome was 0.74 (p = 0.02) and our model showed that a BDG downslope > 70% predicted survival with both specificity and positive predictive value of 100%. CONCLUSIONS: A decrease in serum BDG was associated with reduced mortality and a steep downslope predicted survival with high specificity in invasive candidiasis.

Update on vitamin D role in severe infections and sepsis.

Severe infections frequently require admission to the intensive care unit and cause life-threatening complications in critically ill patients. In this setting, severe infections are acknowledged as prerequisites for the development of sepsis, whose pathophysiology implies a dysregulated host response to pathogens, leading to disability and mortality worldwide.Vitamin D is a secosteroid hormone that plays a pivotal role to maintain immune system homeostasis, which is of paramount importance to resolve infection and modulate the burden of sepsis. Specifically, vitamin D deficiency has been widely reported in critically ill patients and represents a risk factor for the development of severe infections, sepsis and worse clinical outcomes. Several studies have demonstrated the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation strategies to improve vitamin D body content, but conflictual results support its benefit in general populations of critically ill patients. In contrast, small randomised clinical trials reported that vitamin D supplementation may improve host-defence to pathogen invasion via the production of cathelicidin and specific cytokines. Nonetheless, no large scale investigations have been designed to specifically assess the impact of vitamin D supplementation on the outcome of critically ill septic patients admitted to the intensive care unit.

Antimicrobial De-Escalation in Critically Ill Patients.

Antimicrobial de-escalation (ADE) is defined as the discontinuation of one or more antimicrobials in empirical therapy, or the replacement of a broad-spectrum antimicrobial with a narrower-spectrum antimicrobial. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the available literature on the effectiveness and safety of ADE in critically ill patients, with a focus on special conditions such as anti-fungal therapy and high-risk categories. Although it is widely considered a safe strategy for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), to date, there has been no assessment of the effect of de-escalation on the development of resistance. Conversely, some authors suggest that prolonged antibiotic treatment may be a side effect of de-escalation, especially in high-risk categories such as neutropenic critically ill patients and intra-abdominal infections (IAIs). Moreover, microbiological documentation is crucial for increasing ADE rates in critically ill patients with infections, and efforts should be focused on exploring new diagnostic tools to accelerate pathogen identification. For these reasons, ADE can be safely used in patients with infections, as confirmed by high-quality and reliable microbiological samplings, although further studies are warranted to clarify its applicability in selected populations.