Treatment Outcome of Bacteremia Due to KPC-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae: Superiority of Combination Antimicrobial Regimens

Abstract

ABSTRACTKlebsiella pneumoniaeproducingKlebsiella pneumoniaecarbapenemase (KPC) has been associated with serious infections and high mortality. The optimal antimicrobial therapy for infection due to KPC-producingK. pneumoniaeis not well established. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the clinical outcome of patients with bacteremia caused by KPC-producingK. pneumoniae. A total of 41 unique patients with blood cultures growing KPC-producingK. pneumoniaewere identified at two medical centers in the United States. Most of the infections were hospital acquired (32; 78%), while the rest of the cases were health care associated (9; 22%). The overall 28-day crude mortality rate was 39.0% (16/41). In the multivariate analysis, definitive therapy with a combination regimen was independently associated with survival (odds ratio, 0.07 [95% confidence interval, 0.009 to 0.71],P= 0.02). The 28-day mortality was 13.3% in the combination therapy group compared with 57.8% in the monotherapy group (P= 0.01). The most commonly used combinations were colistin-polymyxin B or tigecycline combined with a carbapenem. The mortality in this group was 12.5% (1/8). Despitein vitrosusceptibility, patients who received monotherapy with colistin-polymyxin B or tigecycline had a higher mortality of 66.7% (8/12). The use of combination therapy for definitive therapy appears to be associated with improved survival in bacteremia due to KPC-producingK. pneumoniae.