Risk factors for invasive fungal infections complicating orthotopic liver transplantation

J Infect Dis. 1994 Sep;170(3):644-52.

Abstract

Risk factors for invasive fungal infection in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation were examined. Thirty-four of 168 transplants were complicated within 100 days after transplantation by documented invasive fungal infection (Candida species, 28 patients; mycelial fungi, 5; both Candida and Aspergillus species, 1). In the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, three baseline and two posttransplant variables were independently significant risk factors for infection: level of creatinine (hazard ratio = 1.4), length of transplant operation (HR = 1.2), retransplantation (HR = 3.2), abdominal or intrathoracic reoperations (HR = 2.5), and cytomegalovirus infection (HR = 8.5). Four predictors (creatinine of > 3.0 mg/dL, operative time of > or = 11 h, retransplantation, and early colonization) assessable at the time of transplantation or shortly thereafter were incorporated into a simple predictive model for risk stratification. The risk of invasive fungal infection ranged from 1% in patients with no predictors to 67% in patients with two or more predictors. Strategies to prevent invasive fungal infections after liver transplantation should be targeted to these high-risk groups.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adrenal Cortex Hormones / therapeutic use
  • Adult
  • Aspergillosis / epidemiology*
  • Blood Urea Nitrogen
  • Candidiasis / epidemiology*
  • Creatinine / blood
  • Female
  • Graft Rejection / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Immunosuppression Therapy / methods
  • Liver Function Tests
  • Liver Transplantation* / immunology
  • Liver Transplantation* / physiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Muromonab-CD3 / therapeutic use
  • Postoperative Complications / epidemiology*
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Reoperation
  • Risk Factors
  • Survival Analysis
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Adrenal Cortex Hormones
  • Muromonab-CD3
  • Creatinine