Search

Background: Stratification to categorize patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) as low or high risk for metastatic infection may direct diagnostic evaluation and enable personalized management. We investigated the frequency of metastatic infections in low-risk SAB patients, their clinical relevance, and whether omission of routine imaging is associated with worse outcomes., Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study at 7 Dutch hospitals among adult patients with low-risk SAB, defined as hospital-acquired infection without treatment delay, absence of prosthetic material, short duration of bacteremia, and rapid defervescence. Primary outcome was the proportion of patients whose treatment plan changed due to detected metastatic infections, as evaluated by both actual therapy administered and by linking a adjudicated diagnosis to guideline-recommended treatment. Secondary outcomes were 90-day relapse-free survival and factors associated with the performance of diagnostic imaging., Results: Of 377 patients included, 298 (79%) underwent diagnostic imaging. In 15 of these 298 patients (5.0%), imaging findings during patient admission had been interpreted as metastatic infections that should extend treatment. Using the final adjudicated diagnosis, 4 patients (1.3%) had clinically relevant metastatic infection. In a multilevel multivariable logistic regression analysis, 90-day relapse-free survival was similar between patients without imaging and those who underwent imaging (81.0% versus 83.6%; adjusted odds ratio, 0.749; 95% confidence interval, .373-1.504)., Conclusions: Our study advocates risk stratification for the management of SAB patients. Prerequisites are follow-up blood cultures, bedside infectious diseases consultation, and a critical review of disease evolution. Using this approach, routine imaging could be omitted in low-risk patients., Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. The authors: No reported conflicts of interest. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America.)

In this retrospective cohort study, selected patients with disseminated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, but without endovascular infection on echocardiography and 18F-FDG-PET/CT, were free of relapse after IV-oral switch. Mortality was low and similar to patients who received prolonged intravenous treatment. IV-oral switch was associated with a shorter length of hospital stay., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.)

Background: Our aim in this study was to develop quality indicators (QIs) for outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) care that can be used as metrics for quality assessment and improvement., Methods: A RAND-modified Delphi procedure was used to develop a set of QIs. Recommendations on appropriate OPAT care in adults were retrieved from the literature using a systematic review and translated into potential QIs. These QIs were appraised and prioritized by a multidisciplinary panel of international OPAT experts in 2 questionnaire rounds combined with a meeting between rounds., Results: The procedure resulted in 33 OPAT-specific recommendations. The following QIs that describe recommended OPAT care were prioritized by the expert panel: the presence of a structured OPAT program, a formal OPAT care team, a policy on patient selection criteria, and a treatment and monitoring plan; assessment for OPAT should be performed by the OPAT team; patients and family should be informed about OPAT; there should be a mechanism in place for urgent discussion and review of emergent clinical problems, and a system in place for rapid communication; laboratory results should be delivered to physicians within 24 hours; and the OPAT team should document clinical response to antimicrobial management, document adverse events, and monitor QIs for OPAT care and make these data available., Conclusions: We systematically developed a set of 33 QIs for optimal OPAT care, of which 12 were prioritized by the expert panel. These QIs can be used to assess and improve the quality of care provided by OPAT teams., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.)