title: Vancomycin-resistant enterococci colonization does not increase mortality in end-stage kidney failure: a case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) colonization is a frequent occurrence in patients with renal failure. Understanding the impact of VRE colonization on this group of patients has considerable clinical applicability.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To understand whether VRE colonization in renal patients has an impact on number of admissions to hospital, length of stay, and mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective case-control study of renal dialysis patients was performed between 2000 and 2010. Cases were 134 VRE-colonized patients requiring renal replacement therapy and matched controls were 137 non-colonized patients with the same baseline characteristics. Matched cases and controls were analysed for differences in number of admissions, length of stay, and mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no difference in mortality between colonized and non-colonized patients (hazard ratio: 1.14; 95% confidence interval: 0.78-1.69; P = 0.49). Length of stay for colonized patients was 7.29 days compared with 4.14 days (P < 0.001). The number of admissions for VRE-colonized patients was not significantly different compared with controls (9.34 vs 8.33, P = 0.78).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VRE colonization did not increase mortality in renal patients but did contribute to increased length of stay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Monash Medical Centre, Monash Health, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: sarahemg@gmail.com.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Garner
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Polkinghorne
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kotsanas
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Korman
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Stuart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000401:mortality*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D020713:Vancomycin Resistance; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Colonization; Dialysis; Renal; Vancomycin-resistant enterococci