Korean J Med.  2005 Jul;69(1):69-75.

Risk factors for hospital acquired infections in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis

• Cha BG
• Kim JW
• Kim SJ
• Han SP
• Kim HJ
• Do JH
• Kim JG
• Chang SK

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Infection is a frequent complication in patients with chronic liver disease, mainly during the advanced stages. This study was performed to investigate the risk factors for infections in hospitalized patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis.
METHODS
We analyzed 108 decompensated hospitalized cirrhotic patients (34 cases with infection and 117 cases without infection) without clinical evidence of infection at the time of admission and during initial 72 hours after admission.
RESULTS
Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that patients who developed an infection were more likely to have a lower serum albumin levels. Gram-negative bacterial strains were detected most frequently, in 13 of the 18 strains isolated. There was no significant difference in etiology of disease, Child-Pugh classification, cirrhotic complications including upper G-I bleeding, hepatocelluar caricnoma, invasive procedure, diabetus mellitus, admission to ICU, duration of admission, survival rate and various parameters related to liver and renal function between patients with infection and without infection.
CONCLUSION
The present study indicates that decompensated cirrhotic patient with low serum albumin levels have a higher risk of developing a hospital acquired infection, especially by gram negative bacteria.

Keyword

Liver cirrhosis; Risk factors; Gram-negative bacterial infections; Nosocomial infection

MeSH Terms

Classification
Cross Infection
Gram-Negative Bacteria
Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections
Hemorrhage
Humans
Liver Cirrhosis*
Liver Diseases
Liver*
Multivariate Analysis
Risk Factors*
Serum Albumin
Survival Rate
Serum Albumin