Philipp Schuetz1, Alexander Kutz2, Eva Grolimund1, Sebastian Haubitz1, Désirée Demann1, Alaadin Vögeli1, Fabienne Hitz1, Mirjam Christ-Crain3, Robert Thomann4, Claudine Falconnier5, Claus Hoess6, Christoph Henzen7, Robert J Marlowe8, Werner Zimmerli5, Beat Mueller1. 1. University Department of Medicine, Kantonsspital Aarau, Switzerland. 2. University Department of Medicine, Kantonsspital Aarau, Switzerland. Electronic address: kutz.alexander@gmail.com. 3. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Clinical Nutrition, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland. 4. Department of Internal Medicine, Bürgerspital Solothurn, Switzerland. 5. Basel University Medical Clinic Liestal, Switzerland. 6. Department of Internal Medicine, Kantonsspital Münsterlingen, Switzerland. 7. Department of Internal Medicine, Kantonsspital Lucerne, Switzerland. 8. Spencer-Fontayne Corporation, Jersey City, NJ, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether exclusion of infection and antibiotic stewardship with the infection biomarker procalcitonin improves outcomes in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients presenting to emergency departments with respiratory symptoms and suspicion of respiratory infection. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of patients with a past medical history of CHF formerly included in a Swiss multicenter randomized-controlled trial. The trial compared antibiotic stewardship according to a procalcitonin algorithm or state-of-the-art guidelines (controls). The primary endpoint was a 30-day adverse outcome (death, intensive care unit admission); the secondary endpoints included a 30-day antibiotic exposure. RESULTS: In the 110/233 analyzed patients (47.2%) with low initial procalcitonin (<0.25 μg/L), suggesting the absence of systemic bacterial infection, those randomized to procalcitonin guidance (n=50) had a significantly lower adverse outcome rate compared to controls (n=60): 4% vs. 20% (absolute difference -16.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) -28.4% to -3.6%, P=0.01), and significantly reduced antibiotic exposure [days] (mean 3.7 ± 4.0 vs. 6.5 ± 4.4, difference -2.8 [95% CI, -4.4 to -1.2], P<0.01). When initial procalcitonin was ≥0.25 μg/L, procalcitonin-guided patients had significantly reduced antibiotic exposure due to early stop of therapy without any difference in adverse outcomes (25.8% vs. 24.6%, difference [95% CI] 1.2% [-14.5% to 16.9%, P=0.88]). CONCLUSIONS:CHF patients presenting to the emergency department with respiratory symptoms and suspicion for respiratory infection had decreased antibiotic exposure and improved outcomes when procalcitonin measurement was used to exclude bacterial infection and guide antibiotic treatment. These data provide further evidence for the potential harmful effects of antibiotic / fluid treatment when used instead of diuretics and heart failure medication in clinically symptomatic CHF patients without underlying infection.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine whether exclusion of infection and antibiotic stewardship with the infection biomarker procalcitonin improves outcomes in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients presenting to emergency departments with respiratory symptoms and suspicion of respiratory infection. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of patients with a past medical history of CHF formerly included in a Swiss multicenter randomized-controlled trial. The trial compared antibiotic stewardship according to a procalcitonin algorithm or state-of-the-art guidelines (controls). The primary endpoint was a 30-day adverse outcome (death, intensive care unit admission); the secondary endpoints included a 30-day antibiotic exposure. RESULTS: In the 110/233 analyzed patients (47.2%) with low initial procalcitonin (<0.25 μg/L), suggesting the absence of systemic bacterial infection, those randomized to procalcitonin guidance (n=50) had a significantly lower adverse outcome rate compared to controls (n=60): 4% vs. 20% (absolute difference -16.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) -28.4% to -3.6%, P=0.01), and significantly reduced antibiotic exposure [days] (mean 3.7 ± 4.0 vs. 6.5 ± 4.4, difference -2.8 [95% CI, -4.4 to -1.2], P<0.01). When initial procalcitonin was ≥0.25 μg/L, procalcitonin-guided patients had significantly reduced antibiotic exposure due to early stop of therapy without any difference in adverse outcomes (25.8% vs. 24.6%, difference [95% CI] 1.2% [-14.5% to 16.9%, P=0.88]). CONCLUSIONS:CHFpatients presenting to the emergency department with respiratory symptoms and suspicion for respiratory infection had decreased antibiotic exposure and improved outcomes when procalcitonin measurement was used to exclude bacterial infection and guide antibiotic treatment. These data provide further evidence for the potential harmful effects of antibiotic / fluid treatment when used instead of diuretics and heart failure medication in clinically symptomatic CHFpatients without underlying infection.
Authors: Andrew Rhodes; Laura E Evans; Waleed Alhazzani; Mitchell M Levy; Massimo Antonelli; Ricard Ferrer; Anand Kumar; Jonathan E Sevransky; Charles L Sprung; Mark E Nunnally; Bram Rochwerg; Gordon D Rubenfeld; Derek C Angus; Djillali Annane; Richard J Beale; Geoffrey J Bellinghan; Gordon R Bernard; Jean-Daniel Chiche; Craig Coopersmith; Daniel P De Backer; Craig J French; Seitaro Fujishima; Herwig Gerlach; Jorge Luis Hidalgo; Steven M Hollenberg; Alan E Jones; Dilip R Karnad; Ruth M Kleinpell; Younsuk Koh; Thiago Costa Lisboa; Flavia R Machado; John J Marini; John C Marshall; John E Mazuski; Lauralyn A McIntyre; Anthony S McLean; Sangeeta Mehta; Rui P Moreno; John Myburgh; Paolo Navalesi; Osamu Nishida; Tiffany M Osborn; Anders Perner; Colleen M Plunkett; Marco Ranieri; Christa A Schorr; Maureen A Seckel; Christopher W Seymour; Lisa Shieh; Khalid A Shukri; Steven Q Simpson; Mervyn Singer; B Taylor Thompson; Sean R Townsend; Thomas Van der Poll; Jean-Louis Vincent; W Joost Wiersinga; Janice L Zimmerman; R Phillip Dellinger Journal: Intensive Care Med Date: 2017-01-18 Impact factor: 17.440
Authors: Svenja Laukemann; Nina Kasper; Prasad Kulkarni; Deborah Steiner; Anna Christina Rast; Alexander Kutz; Susan Felder; Sebastian Haubitz; Lukas Faessler; Andreas Huber; Christoph A Fux; Beat Mueller; Philipp Schuetz Journal: Medicine (Baltimore) Date: 2015-12 Impact factor: 1.817