[Management of acute community-acquired pneumonia in a health centre. Assessment of 101 cases using the retrospective clinical audit method]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the conformity of practitioners' practices in the management of community acquired pneumonia with the French Agence Nationale d'Accréditation et d'Evaluation en Santé (Anaes) guidelines.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed a random sample of 210 medical records which included a principal or associated diagnosis of pneumonia in a French university hospital.

RESULTS

A hundred and one medical records were assessable. Sixty-two patients were high risk (Pneumonia Severity Index class IV or V of the prediction rule of Fine et al.), and 10 patients were admitted into an intensive care unit. The overall in-hospital mortality was 14 patients [8-22]. The level of care was appropriate according to the guidelines in 40 cases ([30-50)]. Seven patients did not require hospitalisation, 31 patients required admission into a medical department, 56 patients into an intensive care unit and 7 patients were managed in non specified conditions. Eighteen patients ([11-27]) had appropriate microbiologic investigations. Forty-three patients (([33-53]) received antibiotics within 8 hours of arrival. Empirical antibiotic treatment (dosage and molecule) was appropriate in 38 patients ([28-48]). There was no significant relationship between compliance with the guidelines and in-hospital mortality.

CONCLUSION

The rate of conformity of practitioners' practices with the Anaes guidelines for management of community-acquired pneumonia is low in our hospital. It could be improved by active implementation of these guidelines.

[Agreement between clinical practice guidelines for management of community-acquired pneumonia. A retrospective study of 101 hospitalized patients]

INTRODUCTION

Management guidelines for acute community acquired pneumonia vary considerably. The objective is to estimate by a retrospective study the uniformity of the recommendations for the management of patients and the choice of initial empirical antibiotic therapy.

METHODS

Eight English and French language guidelines published between 1998 and 2001 were identified by a search of the literature. They were applied retrospectively to a sample of 101 patients admitted to a university hospital in 2000 with a diagnosis of pneumonia.

RESULTS

Hospital admission was advocated for between 61% and 95% and admission to intensive care for between 8% and 35% of the patients, depending on the guidelines under consideration. The actual management conformed to that advocated for between 34% and 94% of the patients (kappa=0.27 [0,19; 0,34]). Compliance of the empirical antibiotic therapy (drug, dose, mode of administration) with the recommendations varied from 0% to 68% of the patients depending on the guidelines considered (kappa=0.01 [-0,10; 0,12]).

CONCLUSIONS

The heterogeneity of the guidelines is manifest by important variations in the recommendations for management and initial empirical therapy. These differences are due, in part, to a paucity of evidence based data upon which to base the guidelines. It would appear essential to harmonise the guidelines in a way that is appropriate for the country of their intended use.

Compliance with instructions for writing structured care management tools

The aim of this study was to assess whether clinical guidelines complied with the instructions for writing structured care management tools in a French university hospital. A cross-sectional study of guidelines for appropriate antimicrobial agent use in the authors' institution was carried out. A total of 221 guidelines were retrieved in 62 hospital units. The number of guidelines by unit ranged from one to 22 and 198 guidelines (90 per cent) had been developed at the local level. None of the guidelines fully complied with the ten criteria of the instructions. Each guideline met, on average, 4.2 criteria (3.9-4.5). The partial compliance rate was 75 per cent (68-80). In two-level multivariate analysis, factors associated with partial compliance were: dissemination of guidelines after implementation of the instructions (odds ratio = 6.25 (2.41-16.21)), existence of more than one storage site for guidelines in each unit (OR = 3.26 (1.03-10.32)), and hospital unit (variance of the intercept = 1.54).

[Staphylococcus aureus meningitis with intermediate sensitivity to glycopeptides. Therapeutic indications]

INTRODUCTION

Since 1997, several observations of glycopeptide intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (GISA) infections have been described. We report the case of meningitis.

OBSERVATION

A 46 year-old man was treated surgically on several occasions for a meningioma of the back cranial fossa. Intracranial hypertension required the placing of a cerebrospinal leading-catheter. He developed a GISA meningitis. Antibiotics and removal of the catheter cured the infection.

DISCUSSION

To our knowledge, this is the first observation of GISA meningitis. Such infections are rare and are probably underestimated due to the lack of standardized detection methods. They occur in fragile, surgical, immunodeficient patients, often living with prostheses. Prior treatment with vancomycine is often reported. The emergence of these infections is a serious therapeutic problem, since vancomycine is a major antibiotic used in the treatment of meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections.

[Evaluation of the impact of individual antibiotic order forms on consumption of antibiotics]

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of an individual patient order form which concerned the 21 most costly antibiotics in a university hospital. Antibiotics expenditures were monitored from 1995 to 1999 and were expressed in 1999 French Francs per 100 patient days (p.d.). The time series were analyzed by auto-regressive models. The trend of antibiotics expenditures which were concerned by the individual patient order form was a yearly increase of 50 FF/100 p.d. (p < 0.01). The individual patient order form had no significant impact on global antibiotics expenditures but there were some differences across departments: antibiotics costs decreased 1.293 FF/100 p.d. (p = 0.02) in intensive care departments. Monitoring antibiotics consumption should be continued in order to increase power of analysis and to assess the impact of the implementation of guidelines.

[Epidemiology of fungemia in a university hospital; therapeutic incidence]

Twenty-two candidemia happened in our hospital from January 1997 to may 1998. We studied the clinical evolution of the patients and the sensitivity of the yeasts to antifungal therapy (Fungitest and E-Test method). We found 11 Candida albicans (CA), 10 Candida non albicans (CNA) (3 C. glabrata, 2 C. parapsilosis, 4 C. tropicalis, 1 C. krusei) and 1 Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mean age of the patients was 56.4 years. There were 13 men and 9 women. We found one group of 8 (36.4%) oncohematological patients, one group of 8 (36.4%) patients with abdominal surgery, one group of 3 (13.6%) children and one group of 3 adults (13.6%) who spent more than 10 days in an intensive care unit. Ten times, these candidemia were associated with bacteriemia, 4 times with several bacteria. Three patients died because of the candidemia, 2 times with CNA and one time with CA. There wasn't any resistance to amphotericin B or ketoconazole. All the CA and 3 CNA (30%) remained sensitive to the four antifungal drugs we used (amphotericin B, ketoconazole, fluconazole, itraconazole). The 3 C. glabrata and the C. krusei were resistant or limit to fluconazole. Since the generalization of the use of fluconazole, the epidemiology is marked by the emergence of new strains of CA with high level of resistance to azols, and of CNA. In our hospital, the CA remain preponderant and only the CNA are resistant to fluconazole making difficult the choice of empiric treatment for serious fungemia.

[Neurologic involvement in sarcoidosis. Federation of Systemic Diseases of Grenoble]

OBJECTIVE

Study the incidence, clinical features, prognosis and diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in neurological lesions of sarcoidosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The 207 cases of sarcoidosis followed at the Grenoble University Hospital between 1992 and 1998 were identified. After collecting data, the cases with neurological signs related to sarcoidosis were selected.

RESULTS

Sixteen patients (7.7%) had neurosarcoidosis. Ten had central nervous system involvement, with 5 reaching the hypothalamus and pituitary glands, 2 cases of meningoencephalitis, 2 pseudotumoral lesions, and 1 bitemporal lesion. Six had peripheral nervous system involvement, 3 had facial palsies and 3 had neuropathies. Laboratory tests were not contributive to diagnosis. Ten magnetic resonance imaging series were pathological out of 11 performed. Three central nervous system biopsies were obtained. Corticosteroid therapy was the most frequent treatment. For hypothalamic and pituitary dysfunction, the only treatment was substitutive hormone therapy. The course was favorable in 11 cases, stable in 4 cases. Symptoms worsened despite treatment in only 1 case.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of neurosarcoidosis may be much higher than is generally realized. The association of suggestive MRI signs, and clinical and laboratory findings evoke the diagnosis. Brain biopsy remains necessary for the pseudotumoral forms and the primitive neurological forms.

[Immunoallergic reaction with hepatitis induced by minocycline]

We report the case of a 19-year old black West Indian woman who had been treated for acne for two years with oral minocycline (50 mg per day) and topical of benzoyle peroxide (5%). She was admitted for fatigue, arthralgia, myalgia and widespread pruritus. We observed several skin lesions of hyperpigmentation, biological signs of hepatitis, and significant levels of antinuclear, anti-mitochondrial and anti-smooth muscle antibodies. Minocycline was immediately stopped. Two months later, all of the biological abnormalities had disappeared but the skin lesions seemed to be irreversible. Minocycline is largely used for the treatment of acne and may induce severe immuno-allergic reactions. Several cases of induced lupus, autoimmune hepatitis, eosinophilic pneumonia, hypersensitivity syndrome, serum-sickness-like illness and Sweet's syndrome have already been described. These side effects are rare but may be life-threatening. So, minocycline should be used as a second-line treatment for acne and should be avoided in black people whom seem to be at risk of such reactions. If, despite those precautions, minocycline-induced immuno-allergic reactions occur, the treatment should be immediately stopped and never prescribed again.

[Assay of lactic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid for the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. Strategies for the choice of discriminatory threshold]

OBJECTIVES

In search for a supplementary marker of bacterial meningitis in cases where conventional bacteriology, cytology and chemistry are insufficiently contributive to diagnosis, we assessed the value of cerebrospinal fluid lactate levels in children with bacterial meningitis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Cerebrospinal fluid lactate levels were measured from all spinal taps performed in a pediatric emergency care unit over a two-year period. Of the 332 usable samples there were 32 cases of bacterial meningitis, 104 cases of viral meningitis and 196 other diagnoses (non meningitis).

RESULTS

Average lactate concentration 7 +/- 4 mmol/l in bacterial meningitis versus 2.1 +/- 0.6 mmol/l in viral meningitis (p < 0.0001). The value of lactic acid concentrations in discriminating between bacterial and viral meningitis was found to be superior to that of other chemistry results: protein, glucose, chloride. The discriminatory threshold of cerebrospinal fluid lactate was 3.7 mmol/l with sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 98%.

CONCLUSION

We propose routine assay of cerebrospinal fluid lactate in all cases of suspected meningitis.