Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a well-known cause of severe and potentially life-threatening infections among hematological patients. A prospective epidemiological surveillance program ongoing at our Hematology Unit revealed an increase over time of P. aeruginosa bloodstream infections (BSI). Their impact on outcome and antibiotic susceptibility was analyzed. BSI which consecutively occurred at our institution during a 70-month period were evaluated and correlated with type of pathogen, status of underlying disease, neutropenia, previous antibiotic therapy, resistance to antibiotics, and outcome. During the observation period, 441 BSI were recorded. Frequency of Gram-negative BSI was higher than that of other pathogens (57.3%). Overall, 66 P. aeruginosa BSI were recorded; 22 out of 66 were multiresistant (MR P. aeruginosa). Thirty-day mortality for all BSI was 11.3%; it was 27.3% for P. aeruginosa BSI and 36.4% for MR P. aeruginosa. At multivariate analysis, only active hematological disease and P. aeruginosa BSI were associated to an increased risk of death. For MR P. aeruginosa, BSI mortality was 83.3% vs. 18.8% when empiric therapy included or not an antibiotic with in vitro activity against P. aeruginosa (p = 0.011). Together with active disease, the emergence of P. aeruginosa BSI, particularly if multiresistant, was responsible for an increased risk of death among hematological patients at our institution. In this scenario, reconsidering the type of combination antibiotic therapy to be used as empiric treatment of neutropenic fever was worthwhile.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gaytán-Martínez J, Mateos-García E, Sánchez-Cortés E et al (2000) Microbiological findings in febrile neutropenia. Arch Med Res 31:388–392
Cattaneo C, Quaresmini G, Casari S et al (2008) Recent changes in bacterial epidemiology and the emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli among patients with haematological malignancies: results of a prospective study on 823 patients at a single institution. J Antimicrob Chemother 61:721–728
Kern WV, Klose K, Jellen-Ritter AS et al (2005) Fluoroquinolone resistance of Escherichia coli at a cancer center: epidemiologic evolution and effects of discontinuing prophylactic fluoroquinolone use in neutropenic patients with leukemia. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 24:111–118
Peleg AY, Hooper DC (2010) Hospital-acquired infections due to gram-negative bacteria. N Engl J Med 362:1804–1813
Gudiol C, Calatayud L, Garcia-Vidal C et al (2010) Bacteraemia due to extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) in cancer patients: clinical features, risk factors, molecular epidemiology and outcome. J Antimicrob Chemother 65:333–341
Irfan S, Idrees F, Mehraj V et al (2008) Emergence of Carbapenem resistant Gram negative and vancomycin resistant Gram positive organisms in bacteremic isolates of febrile neutropenic patients: a descriptive study. BMC Infect Dis 9:80
Paterson DL, Rogers BA (2010) How soon is now? The urgent need for randomized, controlled trials evaluating treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infection. Clin Infect Dis 51:1245–1247
Bonomo RA, Szabo D (2006) Mechanisms of multidrug resistance in Acinetobacter species and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Clin Infect Dis 43(Suppl 2):S49–56
Giske CG, Monnet DL, Cars O et al (2008) Clinical and economic impact of common multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 52:813–821
Kang CI, Kim SH, Park WB et al (2005) Risk factors for antimicrobial resistance and influence of resistance on mortality in patients with bloodstream infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microb Drug Resist 11:68–74
Rangaraj G, Granwehr BP, Jiang Y et al (2010) Perils of quinolone exposure in cancer patients: breakthrough bacteremia with multidrug-resistant organisms. Cancer 116:967–973
Micol JB, de Botton S, Guieze R et al (2006) An 18-case outbreak of drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteriemia in hematology patients. Haematologica 91:1134–1138
Caselli D, Cesaro S, Ziino O et al (2010) Multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in children undergoing chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Haematologica 95:1612–1615
Trecarichi EM, Tumbarello M, Caira M et al (2011) Multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream infection in adult patients with hematologic malignancies. Haematologica 96:e1–3
Cattaneo C, Casari S, Bracchi F et al (2010) Recent increase in enterococci, viridans streptococci, Pseudomonas spp. and multiresistant strains among haematological patients, with a negative impact on outcome. Results of a 3-year surveillance study at a single institution. Scand J Infect Dis 42:324–332
Freifeld AG, Bow EJ, Sepkowitz KA et al (2011) Clinical practice guideline for the use of antimicrobial agents in neutropenic patients with cancer: 2010 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis 52:427–431
Magiorakos AP, Srinivasan A, Carey RB et al (2011) Multidrug-resistant, extensively drug-resistant and pandrug-resistant bacteria: an international expert proposal for interim standard definitions for acquired resistance. Clin Microbiol Infect. doi:10.1111/j.1469-0691.2011.03570.x
Kang CI, Kim SH, Park WB et al (2005) Bloodstream infections caused by antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacilli: risk factors for mortality and impact of inappropriate initial antimicrobial therapy on outcome. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 49:760–766
O’Grady NP, Alexander M, Dellinger EP et al (2002) Guidelines for the prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections. Clin Infect Dis 35:1281–1307
Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (2007) Performance standards for antimicrobial susceptibility testing; seventeenth information supplement. CLSI document M100–S17, Wayne. PA.
Pagano L, Caira M, Candoni A et al (2006) The epidemiology of fungal infections in patients with hematologic malignancies: the SEIFEM-2004 study. Haematologica 91:1068–1075
Pagano L, Caira M, Nosari A et al (2011) The use and efficacy of empirical versus pre-emptive therapy in the management of fungal infections: the HEMA e-Chart Project. Haematologica 96:1366–1370
Chen CY, Tsay W, Tang JL et al (2010) Epidemiology of bloodstream infections in patients with haematological malignancies with and without neutropenia. Epidemiol Infect 138:1044–1051
Velasco E, Byington R, Martins CSA et al (2004) Bloodstream infection surveillance in a cancer centre: a prospective look at clinical microbiology aspects. Clin Microbiol Infect 10:542–549
Viscoli C, Castagnola E (2002) Treatment of febrile neutropenia: what is new? Curr Opin Infect Dis 15:377–382
Cheong HS, Kang CI, Wi YM et al (2008) Inappropriate initial antimicrobial therapy as a risk factor for mortality in patients with community-onset Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteraemia. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 27:1219–1225
Paul M, Soares-Weiser K, Leibovici L (2003) Beta lactam monotherapy versus beta lactam-aminoglycoside combination therapy for fever with neutropenia: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 326:1111
Kumar A, Zarychanski R, Light B et al (2010) Early combination antibiotic therapy yields improved survival compared with monotherapy in septic shock: a propensity-matched analysis. Crit Care Med 38:1773–1785
Safdar N, Handelsman J, Maki DG (2004) Does combination antimicrobial therapy reduce mortality in Gram-negative bacteraemia? A meta-analysis. Lancet Infect Dis 4:519–527
Drgona L, Paul M, Bucaneve G, Calandra T et al (2007) The need for aminoglycosides in combination with b-lactams for high-risk, febrile neutropaenic patients with leukaemia. Eur J Cancer S5:13–22
Tumbarello M, Repetto E, Trecarichi EM et al (2011) Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream infections: risk factors and mortality. Epidemiol Infect 13:1–10
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. Mario Tumbarello, Institute of Infectious Diseases, Agostino Gemelli Hospital, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy, and Dr. Liana Signorini, Inst. of Infectious and Tropical Disease, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy for their assistance with the preparation of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cattaneo, C., Antoniazzi, F., Casari, S. et al. P. aeruginosa bloodstream infections among hematological patients: an old or new question?. Ann Hematol 91, 1299–1304 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-012-1424-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-012-1424-3