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Background: According to existing guidelines, orthopedic specimens collected in joint and bone infections (JBI) in our institution are cultured on several media sets and incubated for two, seven, and 14 days. The optimal timing for de-escalation of the first-line antibiotic combination according to the culture results needs to be defined., Methods: Single-center, retrospective analysis of all adult patients with a first documented episode of JBI between May 2012 and April 2013., Results: Ninety patients were included, 51 males (57%), median age 58 y (range 18-87 y), with prosthesis infection in 62 cases (69%). Rapidly growing pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus [n = 36] and Enterobacteriaceae [n = 12]) usually were diagnosed within two days, whereas coagulase-negative staphylococci (n = 25) and Propionibacterium acnes (n = 13) generally were identified after seven days (p < 10 -5 ). Positive culture results at day 2 fit with definitive microbiological diagnosis in 95% of cases, and prolonged incubation led to the identification of additional micro-organisms in only four of 76 patients (5%) with day-2-positive cultures. Conversely, for those with negative two-day culture (n = 14), the seven-day culture allowed identification of less virulent pathogens in eight cases (57%)., Conclusions: Our results suggest that, in JBI, de-escalation of the empirical antibiotic regimen can be based on micro-organisms identified on the two-day culture set. The impact of such a strategy on clinical outcomes, antibiotic consumption, and costs needs to be assessed in larger studies.

Introduction: Surgical resection of a malignant bone tumor (BT) or soft tissue tumor (STT), with or without prosthetic replacement, carries a high risk of developing postoperative infections. There is limited knowledge on the bacteriological spectrum of these postsurgical infections that necessitate empirical antibiotic therapy. The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence and microbiological features of site infections following BT or STT resection., Methods: In this retrospective mono-center study, we analyzed the surgical and bacteriological data of all consecutive patients who developed an infection after surgical resection of a BT or STT between January 2010 and April 2014., Results: Seventy-two consecutive patients who developed an infection on the site of surgical treatment for a BT (n = 42) or SST (n = 30) were included. Polymicrobism was frequently observed, more often associated with STTs (93%) than BTs (71%; P = 0.03). Gram-negative bacteria were more frequently isolated in STTs (55%) than in BTs (26%; P = 0.01) and non-prosthesis-associated infections (54%) than prosthesis-associated infections (29%; P = 0.04), whereas staphylococci were more frequently found in BTs (76%) than in STTs (52%; P = 0.03). Overall, we found gram negatives in 82% of early acute infections, 11% of chronic infections and 7% of late acute infections (P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Postoperative infections in patients after surgical resection of BTs or STTs were often polymicrobial, especially following STTs. Causative bacteria were often gram negatives in STTs and non-prosthesis-associated infections, whereas staphylococci were predominant in BTs. Based on these findings, we recommend antibiotic coverage of both gram-positive and -negative bacteria with a combination of broad-spectrum antibiotics in STTs and antistaphylococcal antibiotics as first-line therapy in infections following BT surgery.

Purpose: Clindamycin, a lincosamide antibiotic with a good penetration into bone, is widely used for treating bone and joint infections by Gram-positive pathogens. To be active against Staphylococcus spp, its concentration at the infection site, C, must be higher than 2× the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). The aims of the work were to study the determinants of plasma clindamycin trough concentration, C min, especially the effect of co-treatment with rifampicin, and the consequences on clinical outcome., Methods: An observational study was performed, involving patients hospitalized for a bone and joint infection who received clindamycin as part of their antibiotic treatment. Target C min was 1.7 mg/L, to reach the desired bone concentration/MIC >2, assuming a 30% diffusion into bone and MIC = 2.5 mg/L., Results: Sixty one patients (mean age: 56.8 years, 57.4% male) were included between 2007 and 2011. 72.1% underwent a surgery on a foreign material, and 91.1% were infected by at least a Gram-positive micro-organism. Median C min value was 1.39 mg/L, with 58% of the values below the threshold value of 1.7 mg/L. Median C min was significantly lower for patients taking rifampicin (0.46 vs 1.52 mg/L, p = 0.034). No patient with rifampicin co-administration reached the target concentration (maximal C min: 0.85 mg/L). After a median follow-up of 17 months (1.5-38 months), 4 patients relapsed, 2 died and 47 (88.7% of the patients with known outcome) were cured, independently of association with rifampicin., Conclusions: This study shows the high inter-variability of plasma clindamycin concentration and confirms that co-treatment with rifampicin significantly decreases clindamycin trough concentrations.

Implications: Patients with iatrogenic hypernatremia and serum sodium levels >170 mmol/L either die or sustain severe central nervous system damage. We report the first case of an adult patient who survived an extreme iatrogenic acute hypernatremia (200 mmol/L) resulting from a hypertonic saline irrigation of multiple intraabdominal hydatid cysts. It is a unique report of an intraoperatively developed serum sodium increase without subsequent neurological damage.

Most episodes of acute rejection will resolve after steroid therapy without detrimental consequences on the liver allograft. However, steroid-resistant acute rejection may induce irreversible lesions of the graft and is associated with an increased risk of chronic rejection. The aim of this study was to determine whether there were predictive factors for steroid-resistant acute rejection after liver transplantation. A total of 108 adult liver recipients with a follow-up of at least 2 years have been analyzed; sixty-two (57%) patients had at least one episode of acute rejection. The rates of steroid resistance were 35%, 52% and 83% after a first (n = 62), second (n = 25), or third (n = 7) episode of acute rejection, respectively. Steroid resistance of acute rejection was significantly associated with a past history of pretransplant steroid therapy (P = 0.004). High levels of ALT (P = 0.03) and serum bilirubin (P = 0.002) were also predictive of steroid-resistant acute rejection. Eight (7%) patients eventually developed chronic rejection. Predictive factors for chronic rejection included steroid-resistant acute rejection (P = 0.01), recurrent acute rejection (P = 0.03), and CMV infection (P = 0.01). In conclusion, this study suggests that pretransplant steroid administration or high levels of ALT and bilirubin in rejecting patients are risk factors for steroid resistance and should lead to aggressive antirejection therapy without delay.

The goal of this study was to identify high-risk groups for cytomegalovirus infection after liver transplantation. Sixty-one patients were evaluated. Twenty-five patients (41 percent) had infection. Among the 16 patients who were seronegative for the virus before transplantation, 11 received a liver graft and blood products from seronegative donors and none of them developed infection. All seronegative recipients of a liver from seropositive donors (5/5) developed primary infection. Among the 45 patients seropositive before transplantation, 20 developed a cytomegalovirus infection, whatever the donor serologic status. The incidence of symptomatic reactivation or reinfection was high (14/20), and, for 12/14 of them, associated with early acute rejection. Two high-risk groups of patients, eligible for cytomegalovirus prophylaxis, were identified: seronegative recipients of seropositive donors and seropositive recipients with early acute rejection.