Hemodialysis (HD) patients are susceptible to extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacterial infections. Because the optimal treatment and clinical significance of ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-Kp) HD access-related bacteremia remain unclear, Yang, et al. (2012) conducted this retrospective study to determine the clinical outcomes of patients treated with either flomoxef or a carbapenem.

The eligibility criterion was fistula or graft- or catheter- related ESBL-Kp bacteremia in patients on maintenance HD. The clinical characteristics and antibiotic management were analyzed. Outcome was determined by mortality resulting from bacteremia during the 14-day period after the first positive blood culture for flomoxef-susceptible ESBL-Kp.
Â 
The 57 patients studied were predominantly elderly, malnourished, with a history of severe illnesses and broad-spectrum antibiotic use before the onset of bacteremia, and with severe septicemia as determined by the Pitt bacteremia score (PBS). The study population comprisedÂ seven fistula,Â eight graft, and 42 HD catheter-related bacteremia (CRB) cases, and the mortality rate was high (36/57, 63.2 percent) in these 57 patients. Of 42 patients with CRB, those in the deceased group (27/42, 64.3 percent) had significantly lower levels of serum albumin, longer prior hospital stay and duration of catheter-dependent HD, and higher PBS than patients in the survived group. Failure to receive effective antibiotics (flomoxef or a carbapenem) withinÂ five days after onset of bacteremia and treatment with flomoxef both significantly contributed to higher mortality. Multivariate analyses revealed that flomoxef use, PBS, and catheter-dependent HD >30 days were independently associated with increased mortality. 

The researchers concluded that considering the high mortality rate, ESBL-Kp should be recognized as a possible pathogen in patients on maintenance HD at high risk of acquiring HD access infections associated with ESBL-producing bacteria. They say that carbapenems rather than flomoxef should be the therapy of choice in these critically vulnerable patients. Their research was published in 

Reference: Yang CC, et al. Discrepancy between effects of carbapenems and flomoxef in treating nosocomial hemodialysis access-related bacteremia secondary to extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing klebsiella pneumoniae in patients on maintenance hemodialysis. BMC Infectious Diseases 2012, 12:206 doi:10.1186/1471-2334-12-206