Abstract
Major bacterial infections and the predictors of early (within 100 days of transplantation) versus late onset (after 100 days post-transplant) bacterial infections were prospectively assessed in 130 consecutive liver transplant recipients receiving tacrolimus (FK506) as primary immunosuppression. The median follow-up period was 38 months. Overall, 35% (45/130) of the patients developed 67 episodes of major bacterial infections (0.52 episodes/patient). Sixty-three percent of the major bacterial infections occurred early, and 37% occurred in the late post-transplant period. Eighty-four percent of the abdominal infections occurred early, whereas 38% of the cases of pneumonia, 60% of the cases of primary bacteremia, and 50% of the biliary infections occurred late. By logistic regression analysis, portal vein thrombosis was the most significant independent risk factor for early-onset major bacterial infection (odds ratio 4.1;95% Cl 1.4–12.2), and recurrent hepatitis C was the most significant independent predictor of late-onset major bacterial infections (odds ratio 6.21;95% Cl 1.9–20.2). Thus, sources and risk factors differ for early versus late-onset bacterial infections after liver transplantation. Knowledge of the differences in the potential sources, the pathogens, and the predictors of early versus late-onset bacterial infections can be valuable in the evaluation and empiric treatment of liver transplant recipients with bacterial infections.
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Singh, N., Gayowski, T., Wagener, M.M. et al. Predictors and outcome of early- versus late-onset major bacterial infections in liver transplant recipients receiving tacrolimus (FK506) as primary immunosuppression. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 16, 821–826 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01700412
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01700412