Evaluating the usefulness of the estimated glomerular filtration rate for determination of imipenem dosage in critically ill patients.

Background: Antibiotic dosing in critically ill patients is complicated by variations in the pharmacokinetics of antibiotics in this group. The dosing of imipenem/cilastatin is usually determined by severity of illness and renal function.

Objectives: To determine the correlation between estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) calculated with the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation and imipenem trough levels in critically ill patients.

Outbreak and control of Achromobacter denitrificans at an academic hospital in Pretoria, South Africa.

Objective: In this study, we sought to determine the source of an outbreak of Achromobacter denitrificans infections in patients at a tertiary-care academic hospital.

Design: Outbreak report study with intervention. The study period extended from February 2018 to December 2018.

Invasive fungal infection: A case report.

Geotrichosis is a world-wide mycosis caused by species. We report a rare case of an invasive cutaneous infection by in a female patient with undiagnosed diabetes mellitus. The patient presented with right facial swelling not responding to antibiotics and could not recall trauma to the site of the lesion.

A case report of Nocardia asiatica constrictive pericarditis in a patient with Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Nocardiosis commonly affects the respiratory system and is a rare cause of purulent pericarditis. Invasive nocardial infections occur more frequently in patients with immunosuppression. A misdiagnosis as tuberculosis infection is not uncommon, especially in the context of immunosuppression in high burden tuberculosis settings.

Investigating the need for therapeutic drug monitoring of imipenem in critically ill patients: Are we getting it right?

Background: The drug levels and clearances of imipenem in critically ill patients are not comprehensively described in current literature, yet it is vital that adequate levels be achieved for therapeutic success.

Objectives: To determine the proportion of critically ill patients treated with imipenem/cilastatin with sub-therapeutic imipenem plasma levels, and to compare the clinical outcomes of those patients with therapeutic levels with those who had sub-therapeutic levels.

Methods: Trough imipenem plasma levels of 68 critically ill patients from a surgical intensive care unit were measured using a validated high-performance liquid chromatography method.