Prognostic Value of Decreased High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in Infective Endocarditis.

(1) Background: Simple parameters to be used as early predictors of prognosis in infective endocarditis (IE) are lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic role of high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and also of total-cholesterol (TC), low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides, in relation to clinical features and mortality, in IE. (2) Methods: Retrospective analysis of observational data from 127 consecutive patients with a definite diagnosis of IE between 2016 and 2019.

Excluded versus included patients in a randomized controlled trial of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: relevance to external validity.

Background: Population external validity is the extent to which an experimental study results can be generalized from a specific sample to a defined population. In order to apply the results of a study, we should be able to assess its population external validity. We performed an investigator-initiated randomized controlled trial (RCT) (AIDA study), which compared colistin-meropenem combination therapy to colistin monotherapy in the treatment of patients infected with carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria.

The Association Between Empirical Antibiotic Treatment and Mortality in Severe Infections Caused by Carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative Bacteria: A Prospective Study.

Background: Empirical colistin should be avoided. We aimed to evaluate the association between covering empirical antibiotics (EAT) and mortality for infections caused by carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria (CRGNB).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial, including adults with bloodstream infections, pneumonia, or urosepsis caused by CRGNB.

Acute kidney injury during colistin therapy: a prospective study in patients with extensively-drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections.

The study aimed to prospectively assess incidence and risk factors for colistin-associated nephrotoxicity. This is a secondary analysis of a multicentre, randomized clinical trial, comparing efficacy and safety of colistin versus the combination of colistin plus rifampicin in severe infections due to extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Acinetobacter baumannii. The primary end point was acute kidney injury (AKI) during colistin treatment, assessed using the AKI Network Criteria, and considering death as a competing risk.

Safety of treatment with high-dose daptomycin in 102 patients with infective endocarditis.

Daptomycin is commonly used at doses >6 mg/kg/day for various indications, including infective endocarditis (IE). A systematic assessment of skeletal muscle, renal, haematological, hepatic and pulmonary toxicity of high-dose daptomycin (HDD) in IE is lacking. A total of 102 IE patients treated with HDD were included in this non-comparative, observational, single-centre cohort study conducted from 2007 to 2014.