Clinical characteristics and predictors of mortality in patients with Enterobacter aerogenes bacteremia

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Enterobacter aerogenes is increasingly encountered in nosocomial infections. This study aimed to clarify the clinical characteristics and to identify the predictors of mortality in patients with E. aerogenes bacteremia.

METHODS

From March 2001 to April 2007, all patients with positive blood cultures for E. aerogenes at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, were enrolled in this retrospective study. The medical records were reviewed for clinical and laboratory data.

RESULTS

Eighty eight patients were included, 9 (10.2%) of whom died of E. aerogenes bacteremia. Most of the patients had comorbidities. Seventy nine patients (89.8%) had nosocomial infections, and 43 patients (48.9%) had polymicrobial infections. Eighty four patients (95.5%) presented with fever. Empirical antimicrobial therapy was administered for 80 patients (90.9%), but was appropriate for only 55 patients (62.5%). Of the 9 patients who died, 8 had polymicrobial infection, 5 of whom had nosocomial pneumonia, and 6 did not receive appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Multivariate analysis indicated that high Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score (>16) [odds ratio (OR), 16.569; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.24-221.24; p = 0.034] and strains not susceptible to extended-spectrum cephalosporins (OR, 9.21; 95% CI, 1.02-83.04; p = 0.048) were independent risk factors for mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The severity of E. aerogenes bacteremia, reflected by high APACHE II score and isolation of strains with no susceptibility to extended-spectrum cephalosporins, were independent risk factors for mortality. Patients with severe illness and isolates resistant to extended-spectrum cephalosporins should be treated with more potent antimicrobial agents.

Measures for improving therapeutic results of esophageal carcinoma in stage III: preoperative radiotherapy

Surgical therapeutic results of esophageal carcinoma stage III in 245 cases admitted to our hospital from 1966 to 1982 are reported in this paper. In this series, 171 cases were treated by surgery alone and 74 cases treated with a combination of preoperative radiotherapy and surgery. Of the entire group, 184 cases underwent gastroesophagostomy or colon interposition for esophageal reconstruction preceded by resection of the cancerous esophageal segment. The resectability rate was 75.1%, and the resection operative mortality rate was 7.1%. The 5- and 10-year survival rates were 30.0 and 25.8%, respectively. In the group of 171 cases treated by surgery alone, the resectability rate was 73.1% (125/171), and the resectability in the middle third esophageal carcinoma was only 64.7% (44/68), while in the group of 74 cases treated by combination treatment, the resectability increased to 79.7% (59/74) and the resectability in the middle third esophageal carcinoma increased to 79.3% (46/58). The 5-year survival rate in the combination-therapy group (60.1%) was 42.9% higher than that of the group treated by surgery alone (17.2%) (p less than 0.01). However, the differences in the rates of resection operative mortality and operative complications between these two groups were not significant. Therefore, we think that preoperative radiotherapy for esophageal carcinoma in stage III is an effective measure for improving resectability and survival rate.