Bacteremia in critically ill immunocompromised patients with acute hypoxic respiratory failure: A post-hoc analysis of a prospective multicenter multinational cohort

Purpose: The characteristics and impact of bacteremia have not been widely investigated in immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF). Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort of immunocompromised patients with ARF (EFRAIM study). After exclusion of blood cultures positive for coagulase negative Staphylococci, we compared patients with (n = 236) and without (n = 1127) bacteremia. Results: The incidence of bacteremia was 17%. Bacterial pneumonia and extra-pulmonary ARDS were the main causes of ARF in bacteremic patients. Bacteremia involved gram negative rods (48%), gram positive cocci (40%) or were polymicrobial (10%). Bacteremic patients had more hematological malignancy, higher SOFA scores and increased organ support within 7 days. Bacteremia was associated with higher crude ICU mortality (40% versus 32%, p = 0.02), but neither hospital (49% versus 44%, p = 0.17) nor 90-day mortality (60% versus 56%, p = 0.25) were different from non-bacteremic patients. After propensity score matching based on baseline characteristics, the difference in ICU mortality lost statistical significance (p = 0.06), including in a sensitivity analysis restricted to patients with pneumonia. Conclusions: We analyzed a large population of immunocompromised patients with ARF and an incidence of bac-teremia of 17%. We could not demonstrate an impact of bacteremia on mortality after adjusting for baseline characteristics. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study analyzed the characteristics and impact of bacteremia in immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory failure. The incidence of bacteremia was 17%, with gram negative rods and gram positive cocci being common pathogens. Although bacteremia was associated with increased ICU mortality, no significant difference in hospital or 90-day mortality was found after adjusting for baseline characteristics.