Predictors of Mortality in Abdominal Organ Transplant Recipients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection remains a common life-threatening complication after abdominal organ transplantation. The objective of the present study was to determine epidemiology and predictors of mortality in abdominal organ transplant recipients with P. aeruginosa infections.A retrospective, double-center study was performed over a 12-year study period. The epidemiology of P. aeruginosa infections was investigated and the univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the independent risk factors for crude and infection-related 30-day mortality in abdominal organ transplant recipients with P. aeruginosa infections.In this study, 60 episodes of P. aeruginosa infection occurring in 54 abdominal organ transplant recipients were enrolled. Postoperative P. aeruginosa infection occurred in 54 (2.8%) of 1935 abdominal organ transplant recipients. Most episodes of P. aeruginosa infections were nosocomial (75.9%, n=41). Among those 54 patients, 30 (55.6%) developed pulmonary infection and 13 (24.1%) developed bacteremia. In 25 of the 54 (46.3%) patients, P. aeruginosa isolates were multidrug resistant. There were 6 (11.1%) cases of septic shock, 18 (33.3%) infection-related deaths, and 21 (38.9%) crude 30-day deaths. Septic shock (odds ratio (OR)=13.46, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.43-126.38, P=0.023) was identified as an independent risk factor for infection-related 30-day mortality. The risk factors independently associated with crude 30-day mortality included P. aeruginosa or concomitant bacteremia (OR=6.79, 95% CI=1.82-25.39, P=0.004) and a serum creatinine level of ≥1.5 mg/dL (OR=4.62, 95% CI=1.11-19.16, P=0.035).The morbidity and mortality rates of P. aeruginosa infections were appreciable in abdominal organ transplant recipients. P. aeruginosa or concomitant bacteremia and an elevated serum creatinine level were associated with higher crude mortality, and septic shock independently predicted higher infection-related mortality.