Liver cirrhosis as a risk factor for mortality in a national cohort of patients with bacteremia

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical features and outcomes of bacteremia in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) and determine whether underlying LC is an independent risk factor for mortality in a population of patients with different underlying diseases. Methods: From the database of nationwide surveillance studies for bacteremia, data regarding bacteremia in patients with LC were analyzed and compared with those in patients with other diseases. Results: A total of 195 patients with LC were compared with 1659 patients with other underlying diseases. As for the site of infection, intraabdominal infection was more frequent in the LC group (P < 0.001), while pneumonia, urinary tract bacteremia, and primary bacteremia were more prevalent in the other diseases group (all P < 0.05). Patients with LC were more likely to have Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia (20.1% vs. 14.3%, P = 0.018), but less likely to have coagulase-negative staphylococcal bacteremia (5.1% vs. 10.4%, P = 0.028). The 30-day mortality rate was significantly higher in the LC group compared to the other disease group (27.2% [53/195] vs. 20.3% [336/1659], P = 0.025). Multivariate analysis revealed underlying LC as a significant predictor for mortality (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.43-3.13; P < 0.001), along with old age, nosocomial acquisition, pneumonia, severe sepsis, and a higher Pitt bacteremia score. Conclusions: The mortality rate of patients with LC was significantly higher than that of patients with other diseases when they developed bacteremia. Underlying LC was found to be one of the independent risk factors for mortality in patients with bacteremia.