A retrospective study of bacterial infections in cirrhosis.

AIM To evaluate the incidence of bacterial infections (BI) in hepatic cirrhosis (HC), the pathogen agents involved, to define the risk factors and impact on prognosis. METHODS There was a retrospective study that enrolled a total of 1046 patients with HC admitted in our clinic between 1.10.2008-31.03.2009 (6 months). Clinical, biological and bacteriological data were monitored. RESULTS 51 patients (4.9%) were found with BI. In one patient BI was located in three sites: peritoneal, blood and urine, and in 7 patients BI was located in 2 sites. BI location was: peritoneal-26 cases, urinary-20 cases, pneumonia - 8 cases, skin - 4 cases and bacteremia -1 case. 43 episodes were community acquired, while 17 episodes were - nosocomial (peritoneal - 3 cases, lung - 6 cases, skin - 2 cases, urinary - 5 cases). Of the 26 cases with bacterial peritonitis, the etiologic agent was identified in three: E. coli, Klebsiella, Alcaligenes. 18% of patients with HC and BI presented upper GI bleeding. 12 cases required admission to the Intensive Care Unit, where the death rate reached 83%. The risk factors for BI in HC were: decompensated HC OR=58,23 (95% CI 8.63÷1141.31), p-value 10-12, Child Pugh score C: OR =1.99 (95% CI 1.04÷3.8), p-value= 0.02. CONCLUSIONS In this study the rate of bacterial infections in HC is low compared with the literature (4.9% vs. 15-30%), because the study was retrospective, hence recorded only severe infections. We must actively seek infections in all hospitalized patients with HC, especially in the ones with decompensated cirrhosis and with upper GI bleeding.