Introduction:

Bacteremia in cirrhotic patients is frequent and associated with high mortality and prolonged hospital stays. This study describes the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of patients with liver cirrhosis and bacteremia treated at a quaternary care hospital.

Methodology:

Observational, retrospective cohort study. The sample consisted of patients with liver cirrhosis and bacteremia treated between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2017, at the Hospital Pablo Tobon Uribe of Medellín, Colombia. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables were collected. Survival was estimated during the time of hospitalization and up to 30 days following the diagnosis of bacteremia.

Results:

78 patients had cirrhosis and bacteremia. The average age was 65 years; 66.7% were women. Cirrhosis was labeled cryptogenic in 30.8% of the cases and NASH in 19.3%. The main source of infection was the urinary tract (24%), followed by cholangitis (23%) and spontaneous bacteremia (19%). Gram-negative bacteria were observed in most of the isolates (67.9%). The prevalence of MDR was 25.6%, and the adequate use of empirical antibiotics was 80.8%. The 30-day mortality rate was 11.5%. The best mortality predictors were the Child-Pugh and MELD scores on admission with AUROC of 0.79 (P=0.008) and 0.72 (P=0.042), respectively.

Conclusions:

The findings allow describing the main characteristics of patients with cirrhosis who develop bacteremia in our environment. A considerable number of MDR infections were found. Patients with an advanced degree of cirrhosis are at the highest risk of mortality.

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