[Bacterial infection in cirrhotic patient].
BACKGROUND
Bacterial infections at admission or during hospitalization are frequent complication of cirrhosis that occurs in about 30% of the cases. Furthermore they are responsible for 25% of deaths in this population.


OBJECTIVE
Evaluate the prevalence of bacterial infections in cirrhotic patients at a general hospital and determine its correlation with alcoholic etiology of liver disease; degree of hepatic dysfunction and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.


METHODS
Five hundred and forty one admissions were retrospectively evaluated in 426 cirrhotic patients at years 1992 to 2000. The mean age was 50.5 years (15-95), being 71.2% male. The alcoholic etiology of cirrhosis was 35.4%. The main outcome considered was discharge or death during admission.


RESULTS
One hundred and thirty five episodes of bacterial infections (25%) were diagnosed. The most frequent are urinary tract infection (31.1%), spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (25.9%) and pneumonia (25.2%). The association between urinary tract infection and pneumonia occurred in 3.7% and erysipelas or cellulites in 11.1%. Bacteremia occurred in 2.9%. There was a correlation between bacterial infection and alcoholic etiology of liver disease, hepatic dysfunction and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The mortality was higher in the infected patients (8.9%) and in those with a poor hepatic function.


CONCLUSIONS
Bacterial infections are common complications in cirrhotic patients and are correlated with alcoholic etiology, Child Pugh classification and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Furthermore, bacterial infections are correlated with poor prognosis.
de Mattos
Angelo A
AA
Fundação Faculdade Federal de Ciências Médicas de Porto Alegre, Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. hmb@santacasa.tche.br
Coral
Gabriela P
GP
Menti
Eduardo
E
Valiatti
Fabiana
F
Kramer
Caroline
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications*; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications*; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies