Bacterial infection in cirrhosis, with and without hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
The extent and type of bacterial infection occurring with liver cirrhosis has remained unknown. Further, while hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is known to occur mainly in patients with liver cirrhosis, no report has yet investigated the incidence of bacterial infection in HCC. The purpose of the present study was to establish the prevalence of bacterial infection in patients with HCC.


METHODS
We have retrospectively investigated all 1140 patients with hepatic cirrhosis and/or HCC for any incidence of bacterial infection.


RESULTS
The incidence of bacterial infection was found to be 15.4%, in 740 patients with HCC. This was approximately equal to the incidence of bacterial infection in 400 patients with cirrhosis without HCC, which was found to be 15.3%. When the severity of cirrhosis was graded according to Child-Pugh classification, the incidences of bacterial infection in Child-Pugh class A, class B, and class C were 3.3%, 11.1%, and 31.2%, respectively, in cirrhosis, and 2.3%, 9.1% and 25.6% in HCC. The incidence of bacterial infection increased with the severity of cirrhosis and severe bacterial infections occurred in Child-Pugh class B and C patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The data suggest that the susceptibility of HCC patients to bacterial infection is mainly related to the underlying cirrhosis and not to the HCC.
Yoshida
H
H
Second Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Japan.
Hamada
T
T
Inuzuka
S
S
Ueno
T
T
Sata
M
M
Tanikawa
K
K
D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies