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Abstract Background The SHARPEN score was developed to predict in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized for infective endocarditis (IE), undergoing or not undergoing cardiac surgery. A comparison with other available scores has not yet been carried out. Objective To evaluate the performance of the SHARPEN score in predicting in-hospital mortality in patients hospitalized for IE undergoing cardiac surgery and compare it with that of both nonspecific and IE-specific surgical scores. Methods Retrospective cohort study including all admissions of patients ≥18 years who underwent cardiac surgery due to active IE (modified Duke criteria) at a tertiary care university hospital between 2007 and 2016. The SHARPEN score was compared to the EuroSCORE, EuroSCORE II, STS-IE, PALSUSE, AEPEI, EndoSCORE and RISK-E scores. Differences P<0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results A total of 105 hospitalizations of 101 patients (mean age 57.4±14.6 years; 75.2% male) were included. The median SHARPEN score was 11 (9-13) points. The observed in-hospital mortality was 29.5%. There was no statistically significant difference in observed vs. estimated mortality (P = 0.147), with an area under the ROC curve of 0.66 (P = 0.008). In comparison with the other scores, no difference was observed in discriminative ability. The statistics of the SHARPEN score at a cutoff >10 points — positive predictive value (PPV): 38.1%, 95%CI:30.4-46.6; negative predictive value (NPV): 80.0%, 95%CI:69.8-87.4; and accuracy: 58.1%, 95%CI:48.1-67.6 — showed overlapping 95%CIs, indicating no significant difference between scores. Conclusions The SHARPEN score did not present parameters with a significant difference in relation to the other scores analyzed; despite the easy obtainment of its few variables, it has limited applicability in clinical practice, like other existing scores.
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ABSTRACT Introduction: Malnutrition is associated with an increased risk of complications in hospitalized patients, and parenteral nutrition (PN) is used when oral or enteral feeding is not possible. This study aimed at analyzing associations between PN characteristics and infectious complications in hospitalized patients. Material and methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted in a tertiarycare university hospital. Data from consecutive adult patients submitted to PN (January 2016 to December 2017; ICU and ward) were reviewed by means of an electronic database. Patient's clinical characteristics, PN prescription and catheter insertion procedure data were extracted and analyzed. The main outcome was the development of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). The secondary outcomes were other infectious complications and mortality, as well as factors associated with CLABSI. Results: We analyzed 165 patients and 247 catheters used for parenteral nutrition infusion. The CLABSI rate was 6.47 per 1000 catheter-days. In the univariable analysis, CLABSI was associated with longer hospitalization time, longer PN time, longer catheter time, catheter insertion performed by a surgeon or a surgical resident, and procedures performed outside the ICU. In an extended time-dependent Cox regression, no variable was associated with a higher risk of CLABSI, and additional PN days did not increase the rate of CLABSI. The overall mortality rate was 24.8%. Only the patients' comorbidity index was associated with death in the multivariable analysis. Discussion: In our study, patients who needed PN had an overall CLABSI rate of 6.47 per 1000 catheter-days. These outcomes were not associated with PN and catheter characteristics studied after adjustment for catheter time. The overall mortality rate was 24.8% and it was not associated with PN in multivariable analyses, only with Charlson comorbidity index.