Blood culture-negative infective endocarditis: a worse outcome? Results from a large multicentre retrospective Spanish cohort study

[Background] To assess the impact of blood cultures negative infective endocarditis (BCNIE) on in-hospital mortality.[Methods] Prospective multicentre study with retrospective analysis of a Spanish cohort including adult patients with definite IE. Cardiac implantable devices infection were excluded. Comparisons between blood cultures positive and BCNIE groups were performed to analyse in-hospital mortality.[Results] 1001 cases were included of which 83 (8.3%) had BCNIE. Alternative microbiological diagnosis was achieved for 39 (47%) out 83 cases. The most frequent identifications were: Coxiella burnetii (11; 28.2%), Tropheryma whipplei (4; 10.3%), Streptococcus gallolyticus (4;10.3%) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (3; 7.7%). Surgery was performed more frequently in BCNIE group (57.8 vs. 36.9%, p < .001). All-cause in-hospital mortality rate was 26.7% without statistical difference between compared groups. BCNIE was not associated to worse mortality rate in Cox regression model (aHR = 1.37, 95% CI 0.90–2.07, p = .14). Absence of microbiological diagnosis was also not associated to worse in-hospital prognosis (aHR = 1.62, 95% CI 0.99–2.64, p = .06).[Conclusions] In our cohort, BCNIE was not associated to greater in-hospital mortality based in multivariate Cox regression models. The variables most frequently associated with mortality were indicated but not performed surgery (aHR = 2.48, 95% CI 1.73–3.56, p < .001), septic shock (aHR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.68–2.99, p < .001), age over 65 years (aHR = 1.88, 95% CI 1.40-2.52, p < .001) and complicated endocarditis (aHR = 1.79, 95% CI 1.36–2.37, p < .001).Peer reviewe

Mural Endocarditis: The GAMES Registry Series and Review of the Literature

Introduction: Mural infective endocarditis (MIE) is a rare type of endovascular infection. We present a comprehensive series of patients with mural endocarditis. Methods: Patients with infectious endocarditis (IE) from 35 Spanish hospitals were prospectively included in the GAMES registry between 2008 and 2017. MIEs were compared to non-MIEs. We also performed a literature search for cases of MIE published between 1979 and 2019 and compared them to the GAMEs series. Results: Twenty-seven MIEs out of 3676 IEs were included. When compared to valvular IE (VIE) or device-associated IE (DIE), patients with MIE were younger (median age 59 years, p < 0.01). Transplantation (18.5% versus 1.6% VIE and 2% DIE, p < 0.01), hemodialysis (18.5% versus 4.3% VIE and 4.4% DIE, p = 0.006), catheter source (59.3% versus 9.7% VIE and 8.8% DIE, p < 0.01) and Candida etiology (22.2% versus 2% DIE and 1.2% VIE, p < 0.01) were more common in MIE, whereas the Charlson Index was lower (4 versus 5 in non-MIE, p = 0.006). Mortality was similar. MIE from the literature shared many characteristics with MIE from GAMES, although patients were younger (45 years vs. 56 years, p < 0.001), the Charlson Index was lower (1.3 vs. 4.3, p = 0.0001), catheter source was less common (13.9% vs. 59.3%) and there were more IVDUs (25% vs. 3.7%). S. aureus was the most frequent microorganism (50%, p = 0.035). Systemic complications were more common but mortality was similar. Conclusion: MIE is a rare entity. It is often a complication of catheter use, particularly in immunocompromised and hemodialysis patients. Fungal etiology is common. Mortality is similar to other IEs

Do specific antimicrobial stewardship interventions have an impact on carbapenem resistance in Gram-negative bacilli? A multicentre quasi-experimental ecological study: time-trend analysis and characterization of carbapenemases

CarbaPIRASOA team.[Background] Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (CR-GNB) are among the most threatening microorganisms worldwide and carbapenem use facilitates their spread. Antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) can help to optimize the use of antibiotics. This study evaluates the impact of a multifaceted educational ASP on carbapenem use and on the epidemiology of CR-GNB.[Methods] We conducted a quasi-experimental, time-series study in seven hospitals, from January 2014 to September 2018. The key intervention was composed of educational interviews promoting the appropriate use of carbapenems. The primary endpoints were carbapenem consumption and incidence density (ID) of CR-GNB. All non-duplicated CR-GNB clinical isolates were tested using phenotypic assays and PCR for the presence of carbapenemases. Joinpoint regression and interrupted time-series analyses were used to determine trends.[Results] A decrease in carbapenem consumption throughout the study period [average quarterly percentage change (AQPC) −1.5%, P < 0.001] and a −8.170 (−16.064 to −0.277) level change following the intervention were observed. The ID of CR-Acinetobacter baumannii decreased (AQPC −3.5%, P = 0.02) and the overall ID of CR-GNB remained stable (AQPC −0.4%, P = 0.52). CR-GNB, CR-Pseudomonas aeruginosa and CR-A. baumannii IDs per hospital correlated with the local consumption of carbapenems. The most prevalent carbapenem resistance mechanisms were OXA-23 for CR-A. baumannii (76.1%), OXA-48 for CR-Klebsiella pneumoniae (66%) and no carbapenemases for CR-P. aeruginosa (91.7%). The epidemiology of carbapenemases was heterogeneous throughout the study, especially for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae.[Conclusions] In conclusion, a multifaceted, educational interview-based ASP targeting carbapenem prescribing reduced carbapenem use and the ID of CR-A. baumannii.This work was funded by the Spanish Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Society (SEIMC).Peer reviewe

Revisiting the epidemiology of bloodstream infections and healthcare-associated episodes: results from a multicentre prospective cohort in Spain (PRO-BAC Study)

PROBAC REIPI/GEIH-SEIMC/SAEI Group.The epidemiology of bloodstream infections (BSIs) is dynamic as it depends on microbiological, host and healthcare system factors. The aim of this study was to update the information regarding the epidemiology of BSIs in Spain considering the type of acquisition. An observational, prospective cohort study in 26 Spanish hospitals from October 2016 through March 2017 including all episodes of BSI in adults was performed. Bivariate analyses stratified by type of acquisition were performed. Multivariate analyses were performed by logistic regression. Overall, 6345 BSI episodes were included; 2510 (39.8%) were community-acquired (CA), 1661 (26.3%) were healthcare-associated (HCA) and 2056 (32.6%) hospital-acquired (HA). The 30-day mortality rates were 11.6%, 19.5% and 22.0%, respectively. The median age of patients was 71 years (interquartile range 60–81 years) and 3656 (58.3%; 95% confidence interval 57.1–59.6%) occurred in males. The proportions according to patient sex varied according to age strata. Escherichia coli (43.8%), Klebsiella spp. (8.9%), Staphylococcus aureus (8.9%) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (7.4%) were the most frequent pathogens. Multivariate analyses confirmed important differences between CA and HCA episodes, but also between HCA and HA episodes, in demographics, underlying conditions and aetiology. In conclusion, we have updated the epidemiological information regarding patients’ profiles, underlying conditions, frequency of acquisition types and aetiological agents of BSI in Spain. HCA is confirmed as a distinct type of acquisition.This work was financed by grants from Plan Nacional de I+D+i 2013–2016, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Subdirección General de Redes y Centros de Investigación Cooperativa, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades [PI16/01432] and the Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI) [RD16/0016/0001; RD16/0016/0008], co‐financed by the European Development Regional Fund ‘A way to achieve Europe’, Operative program Intelligent Growth 2014–2020

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis

[Purpose]: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. [Methods]: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated to quantify the diagnostic accuracy of the CCI to predict mortality risk. [Results]: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327 < 65 years;1291 65-80 years;502 ≥ 80 years) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients ≥80 years who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%,65 years; 20.5%,65-79 years; 31.3%,≥80 years). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%,<65 years;30.1%,65-79 years;34.7%,≥80 years;p < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65 years; 5.5%, 65-80 years;7.6%,≥80 years; p = 0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were age ≥ 80 years (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32–3.34), CCI ≥ 3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39–1.88),and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16–1.58).When the three age groups were compared,the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65 years(p < 0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. [Conclusion]: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age ≥ 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI),and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in the <65-year group

Risk factors for infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales: an international matched case-control-control study (EURECA)

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).[Background] Data on risk factors for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) with wider applicability are needed to inform preventive measures and efficient design of randomised trials.[Methods] An international matched case-control-control study was performed in 50 hospitals with high CRE incidence from March 2016 to November 2018 to investigate different aspects of infections caused by CRE (NCT02709408). Cases were patients with complicated urinary tract infection (cUTI), complicated intraabdominal (cIAI), pneumonia or bacteraemia from other sources (BSI-OS) due to CRE; control groups were patients with infection caused by carbapenem-susceptible Enterobacterales (CSE), and by non-infected patients, respectively. Matching criteria included type of infection for CSE group, ward and duration of hospital admission. Conditional logistic regression was used to identify risk factors.[Findings] Overall, 235 CRE case patients, 235 CSE controls and 705 non-infected controls were included. The CRE infections were cUTI (133, 56.7%), pneumonia (44, 18.7%), cIAI and BSI-OS (29, 12.3% each). Carbapenemase genes were found in 228 isolates: OXA-48/like, 112 (47.6%), KPC, 84 (35.7%), and metallo-β-lactamases, 44 (18.7%); 13 produced two. The risk factors for CRE infection in both type of controls were (adjusted OR for CSE controls; 95% CI; p value) previous colonisation/infection by CRE (6.94; 2.74–15.53; <0.001), urinary catheter (1.78; 1.03–3.07; 0.038) and exposure to broad spectrum antibiotics, as categorical (2.20; 1.25–3.88; 0.006) and time-dependent (1.04 per day; 1.00–1.07; 0.014); chronic renal failure (2.81; 1.40–5.64; 0.004) and admission from home (0.44; 0.23–0.85; 0.014) were significant only for CSE controls. Subgroup analyses provided similar results.[Interpretation] The main risk factors for CRE infections in hospitals with high incidence included previous colonization, urinary catheter and exposure to broad spectrum antibiotics.The study was funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (https://www.imi.europa.eu/) under Grant Agreement No. 115620 (COMBACTE-CARE).Peer reviewe

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Clinical and prognostic differences between methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis

[Background] S. aureus (SA) infective endocarditis (IE) has a very high mortality, attributed to the age and comorbidities of patients, inadequate or delayed antibiotic treatment, and methicillin resistance, among other causes. The main study objective was to analyze epidemiological and clinical differences between IE by methicillin-resistant versus methicillin-susceptible SA (MRSA vs. MSSA) and to examine prognostic factors for SA endocarditis, including methicillin resistance and vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values > 1 μg/mL to MRSA.[Methods] Patients with SA endocarditis were consecutively and prospectively recruited from the Andalusia endocarditis cohort between 1984 and January 2017.[Results] We studied 437 patients with SA endocarditis, which was MRSA in 13.5% of cases. A greater likelihood of history of COPD (OR 3.19; 95% CI 1.41–7.23), invasive procedures, or recognized infection focus in the 3 months before IE onset (OR 2.9; 95% CI 1.14–7.65) and of diagnostic delay (OR 3.94; 95% CI 1.64–9.5) was observed in patients with MRSA versus MSSA endocarditis. The one-year mortality rate due to SA endocarditis was 44.3% and associated with decade of endocarditis onset (1985–1999) (OR 8.391; 95% CI (2.82–24.9); 2000–2009 (OR 6.4; 95% CI 2.92–14.06); active neoplasm (OR 6.63; 95% CI 1.7–25.5) and sepsis (OR 2.28; 95% CI 1.053–4.9). Methicillin resistance was not associated with higher IE-related mortality (49.7 vs. 43.1%; p = 0.32).[Conclusion] MRSA IE is associated with COPD, previous invasive procedure or recognized infection focus, and nosocomial or healthcare-related origin. Methicillin resistance does not appear to be a decisive prognostic factor for SA IE

Outpatient parenteral antibiotic treatment for infective endocarditis: a prospective cohort study from the GAMES cohort

For the Spanish Collaboration on Endocarditis-Grupo de Apoyo al Manejo de la Endocarditis Infecciosa en España (GAMES) investigators: Hospital Costa del Sol, Marbella: Fernando Fernández Sánchez, Mariam Noureddine, Gabriel Rosas, Javier de la Torre Lima. Hospital Universitario de Cruces, (Bilbao): Roberto Blanco, María Victoria Boado, Marta Campaña Lázaro, Alejandro Crespo, Josune Goikoetxea, José Ramón Iruretagoyena, Josu Irurzun Zuazabal, Leire López-Soria, Miguel Montejo, Javier Nieto, David Rodrigo, Regino Rodríguez, Yolanda Vitoria, Roberto Voces. Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga: María (Mª) Victoria García López, Radka Ivanova Georgieva, Guillermo Ojeda, Isabel Rodríguez Bailón, Josefa Ruiz Morales. Hospital Universitario Donostia-Policlínica Gipuzkoa, San Sebastián: Ana María Cuende, Tomás Echeverría, Ana Fuerte, Eduardo Gaminde, Miguel Ángel Goenaga, Pedro Idígoras, José Antonio Iribarren, Alberto Izaguirre Yarza, Xabier Kortajarena Urkola, Carlos Reviejo. Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Alicante: Rafael Carrasco, Vicente Climent, Patricio Llamas, Esperanza Merino, Joaquín Plazas, Sergio Reus. Complejo Hospitalario Universitario A Coruña, A Coruña: Nemesio Álvarez, José María Bravo-Ferrer, Laura Castelo, José Cuenca, Pedro Llinares, Enrique Miguez Rey, María Rodríguez Mayo, Efrén Sánchez, Dolores Sousa Regueiro. Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Huelva, Huelva: Francisco Javier Martínez. Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Canarias: Mª del Mar Alonso, Beatriz Castro, Dácil García Rosado, Mª del Carmen Durán, Mª Antonia Miguel Gómez, Juan Lacalzada, Ibrahim Nassar. Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga, Málaga: Antonio Plata Ciezar, José Mª Reguera Iglesias. Hospital Universitario Central Asturias, Oviedo: Víctor Asensi Álvarez, Carlos Costas, Jesús de la Hera, Jonnathan Fernández Suárez, Lisardo Iglesias Fraile, Víctor León Arguero, José López Menéndez, Pilar Mencia Bajo, Carlos Morales, Alfonso Moreno Torrico, Carmen Palomo, Begoña Paya Martínez, Ángeles Rodríguez Esteban, Raquel Rodríguez García, Mauricio Telenti Asensio. Hospital Clínic-IDIBAPS, Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona: Manuel Almela, Juan Ambrosioni, Manuel Azqueta, Mercè Brunet, Marta Bodro, Ramón Cartañá, Carlos Falces, Guillermina Fita, David Fuster, Cristina García de la Mària, Laura García-Valls, Marta Hernández-Meneses, Jaume Llopis Pérez, Francesc Marco, José M. Miró, Asunción Moreno, David Nicolás, Salvador Ninot, Eduardo Quintana, Carlos Paré, Daniel Pereda, Juan M. Pericás, José L. Pomar, José Ramírez, Irene Rovira, Elena Sandoval, Marta Sala, Marta Sitges, Dolors Soy, Adrián Téllez, José M. Tolosana, Bárbara Vidal, Jordi Vila. Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid: Iván Adán, Javier Bermejo, Emilio Bouza, Daniel Celemín, Gregorio Cuerpo Caballero, Antonia Delgado Montero, Ana Fernández Cruz, Ana García Mansilla, Mª Eugenia García Leoni, Víctor González Ramallo, Martha Kestler Hernández, Amaia Mari Hualde, Mercedes Marín, Manuel Martínez-Sellés, Mª Cruz Menárguez, Patricia Muñoz, Cristina Rincón, Hugo Rodríguez-Abella, Marta Rodríguez-Créixems, Blanca Pinilla, Ángel Pinto, Maricela Valerio, Pilar Vázquez, Eduardo Verde Moreno. Hospital Universitario La Paz, Madrid: Isabel Antorrena, Belén Loeches, Alejandro Martín Quirós, Mar Moreno, Ulises Ramírez, Verónica Rial Bastón, María Romero, Araceli Saldaña. Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, Santander: Jesús Agüero Balbín, Carlos Armiñanzas Castillo, Ana Arnaiz, Francisco Arnaiz de las Revillas, Manuel Cobo Belaustegui, María Carmen Fariñas, Concepción Fariñas-Álvarez, Rubén Gómez Izquierdo, Iván García, Claudia González Rico, Manuel Gutiérrez-Cuadra, José Gutiérrez Díez, Marcos Pajarón, José Antonio Parra, Ramón Teira, Jesús Zarauza. Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Madrid: Fernando Domínguez, Pablo García Pavía, Jesús González, Beatriz Orden, Antonio Ramos. Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, (Madrid): Tomasa Centella, José Manuel Hermida, José Luis Moya, Pilar Martín-Dávila, Enrique Navas, Enrique Oliva, Alejandro del Río, Jorge Rodríguez-Roda Stuart, Soledad Ruiz Rodríguez. Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada: Carmen Hidalgo Tenorio. Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla: Manuel Almendro Delia, Omar Araji, José Miguel Barquero, Román Calvo Jambrina, Marina de Cueto, Juan Gálvez Acebal, Irene Méndez, Isabel Morales, Luis Eduardo López-Cortés. Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla: Arístides de Alarcón, Emilio García, Juan Luis Haro, José Antonio Lepe, Francisco López, Rafael Luque. Hospital San Pedro, Logroño: Luis Javier Alonso, Pedro Azcárate, José Manuel Azcona Gutiérrez, José Ramón Blanco, Lara García-Álvarez, José Antonio Oteo, Mercedes Sanz. Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona: Natividad de Benito, Mercé Gurguí, Cristina Pacho, Roser Pericas, Guillem Pons. Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña: M. Álvarez, A. L. Fernández, Amparo Martínez, A. Prieto, Benito Regueiro, E. Tijeira, Marino Vega. Hospital Santiago Apóstol, Vitoria: Andrés Canut Blasco, José Cordo Mollar, Juan Carlos Gainzarain Arana, Oscar García Uriarte, Alejandro Martín López, Zuriñe Ortiz de Zárate, José Antonio Urturi Matos. Hospital SAS Línea de la Concepción, Cádiz: Gloria García Domínguez, Antonio Sánchez-Porto. Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia: José Mª Arribas Leal, Elisa García Vázquez, Alicia Hernández Torres, Ana Blázquez, Gonzalo de la Morena Valenzuela. Hospital de Txagorritxu, Vitoria: Ángel Alonso, Javier Aramburu, Felicitas Elena Calvo, Anai Moreno Rodríguez, Paola Tarabini-Castellani. Hospital Virgen de la Salud, Toledo: Eva Heredero Gálvez, Carolina Maicas Bellido, José Largo Pau, Mª Antonia Sepúlveda, Pilar Toledano Sierra, Sadaf Zafar Iqbal-Mirza. Hospital Rafael Méndez, Lorca-Murcia: Eva Cascales Alcolea, Pilar Egea Serrano, José Joaquín Hernández Roca, Ivan Keituqwa Yañez, Ana Peláez Ballesta, Víctor Soriano. Hospital Universitario San Cecilio, Granada: Eduardo Moreno Escobar, Alejandro Peña Monje, Valme Sánchez Cabrera, David Vinuesa García. Hospital Son Llátzer, Palma de Mallorca: María Arrizabalaga Asenjo, Carmen Cifuentes Luna, Juana Núñez Morcillo, Mª Cruz Pérez Seco, Aroa Villoslada Gelabert. Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza: Carmen Aured Guallar, Nuria Fernández Abad, Pilar García Mangas, Marta Matamala Adell, Mª Pilar Palacián Ruiz, Juan Carlos Porres. Hospital General Universitario Santa Lucía, Cartagena: Begoña Alcaraz Vidal, Nazaret Cobos Trigueros, María Jesús Del Amor Espín, José Antonio Giner Caro, Roberto Jiménez Sánchez, Amaya Jimeno Almazán, Alejandro Ortín Freire, Monserrat Viqueira González. Hospital Universitario Son Espases, Palma de Mallorca: Pere Pericás Ramis, Mª Ángels Ribas Blanco, Enrique Ruiz de Gopegui Bordes, Laura Vidal Bonet. Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete, Albacete: Mª Carmen Bellón Munera, Elena Escribano Garaizabal, Antonia Tercero Martínez, Juan Carlos Segura Luque.[Background] Outpatient parenteral antibiotic treatment (OPAT) has proven efficacious for treating infective endocarditis (IE). However, the 2001 Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) criteria for OPAT in IE are very restrictive. We aimed to compare the outcomes of OPAT with those of hospital-based antibiotic treatment (HBAT). [Methods] Retrospective analysis of data from a multicenter, prospective cohort study of 2000 consecutive IE patients in 25 Spanish hospitals (2008–2012) was performed. [Results] A total of 429 patients (21.5%) received OPAT, and only 21.7% fulfilled IDSA criteria. Males accounted for 70.5%, median age was 68 years (interquartile range [IQR], 56–76), and 57% had native-valve IE. The most frequent causal microorganisms were viridans group streptococci (18.6%), Staphylococcus aureus (15.6%), and coagulase-negative staphylococci (14.5%). Median length of antibiotic treatment was 42 days (IQR, 32–54), and 44% of patients underwent cardiac surgery. One-year mortality was 8% (42% for HBAT; P < .001), 1.4% of patients relapsed, and 10.9% were readmitted during the first 3 months after discharge (no significant differences compared with HBAT). Charlson score (odds ratio [OR], 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–1.42; P = .01) and cardiac surgery (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, .09–.63; P = .04) were associated with 1-year mortality, whereas aortic valve involvement (OR, 0.47; 95% CI, .22–.98; P = .007) was the only predictor of 1-year readmission. Failing to fulfill IDSA criteria was not a risk factor for mortality or readmission. [Conclusions] OPAT provided excellent results despite the use of broader criteria than those recommended by IDSA. OPAT criteria should therefore be expanded.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economia and Competitividad (Madrid, Spain) (FIS NCT00871104, Instituto de Salud Carlos III). J. M. P. received a “Rio Hortega” research grant from Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the Ministerio de Economia and Competitividad (Madrid, Spain) and the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and Federation of European Microbiological Societies Research Fellowship 2016. Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Madrid, Spain) provided J. M. M. with a personal intensification research grant (INT15/00168) during 2016 and a personal 80:20 research grant from the Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques Pi i Sunyer for the period 2017–2019

A pragmatic approach for mortality prediction after surgery in infective endocarditis: optimizing and refining EuroSCORE

[Objective] To simplify and optimize the ability of EuroSCORE I and II to predict early mortality after surgery for infective endocarditis (IE).[Methods] Multicentre retrospective study (n = 775). Simplified scores, eliminating irrelevant variables, and new specific scores, adding specific IE variables, were created. The performance of the original, recalibrated and specific EuroSCOREs was assessed by Brier score, C-statistic and calibration plot in bootstrap samples. The Net Reclassification Index was quantified.[Results] Recalibrated scores including age, previous cardiac surgery, critical preoperative state, New York Heart Association >I, and emergent surgery (EuroSCORE I and II); renal failure and pulmonary hypertension (EuroSCORE I); and urgent surgery (EuroSCORE II) performed better than the original EuroSCOREs (Brier original and recalibrated: EuroSCORE I: 0.1770 and 0.1667; EuroSCORE II: 0.2307 and 0.1680). Performance improved with the addition of fistula, staphylococci and mitral location (EuroSCORE I and II) (Brier specific: EuroSCORE I 0.1587, EuroSCORE II 0.1592). Discrimination improved in specific models (C-statistic original, recalibrated and specific: EuroSCORE I: 0.7340, 0.7471 and 0.7728; EuroSCORE II: 0.7442, 0.7423 and 0.7700). Calibration improved in both EuroSCORE I models (intercept 0.295, slope 0.829 (original); intercept –0.094, slope 0.888 (recalibrated); intercept –0.059, slope 0.925 (specific)) but only in specific EuroSCORE II model (intercept 2.554, slope 1.114 (original); intercept –0.260, slope 0.703 (recalibrated); intercept –0.053, slope 0.930 (specific)). Net Reclassification Index was 5.1% and 20.3% for the specific EuroSCORE I and II.[Conclusions] The use of simplified EuroSCORE I and EuroSCORE II models in IE with the addition of specific variables may lead to simpler and more accurate models.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Instituto de Salud Carlos III—co-financed by European Development Regional Fund A way to achieve Europe ERDF, Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI RD12/0015); Catalan Society of Cardiology (Grant Orion Pharma); and Spanish Society of Cardiology