Volume 17, Number 9—September 2011
Research
Central Venous Catheter–associated Nocardia Bacteremia in Cancer Patients
Fadi Al Akhrass, Ray Hachem, Jamal A. Mohamed, Jeffrey J. Tarrand, Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis, Jyotsna Chandra, Mahmoud Ghannoum, Souha Haydoura, Ann Marie Chaftari, and Issam Raad
Table 1
Characteristics and outcomes of 17 cancer patients with Nocardia bacteremia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, January 1998–March 2010*
| Characteristic | Disseminated bacteremia (n = 7), no. (%) patients | CLABSI (n = 10), no. (%) patients | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male sex |
3 (43) |
4 (40) |
>0.99 |
| Cancer type | 0.044 | ||
| Hematologic | 7 (100) | 5 (50) | |
| Solid tumor |
0 |
5 (50) |
|
| Concomitant infection | 7 (100) | 5 (50) | 0.044 |
| Cytomegalovirus | 4 (57) | 1 (10) | 0.1 |
| Invasive fungus |
3 (42) |
1 (10) |
0.25 |
| Nocardia type† | 0.74 | ||
| N. nova complex | 3 (43) | 3 (30) | |
| N. asteroides complex | 1 (14 ) | 4 (40) | |
| N. veterana | 1 (17) | 1 (11) | |
| N. brasiliensis | 1 (17) | 0 | |
| N. puris |
0 |
1 (11) |
|
| Antimicrobial drug treatment outcome | |||
| Response to therapy | 5 (71) | 9 (90) | 0.54 |
| Response within 72 h | 0 | 9 (90) | <0.001 |
| Response within 7 d |
2 (29) |
9 (90) |
0.035 |
| Death within 3 mo |
3 (43) |
1 (10) |
0.25 |
| Nocardia bacteremia breakthrough despite trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole prophylaxis | 1 | 2 | >0.99 |
*CLABSI, central line–associated bloodstream infection. Patient median age (range) for those with disseminated infection 56 y (32–73 y), for those with CLABSI 44 y (11–77 y); p = 0.31. Median hospital stay (range) for those with disseminated infection 24 d (8–53 d), for those with CLABSI 5 d (2–18 d); p = 0.01. Median antimicrobial drug treatment duration (range) for those with disseminated infection 50 d (21–105 d), for those with CLABSI 82 d (14–120 d); p = 0.56.
†Species were not determined for 2 isolates.
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