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Information about infections unrelated to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected liver recipients is scarce. The aims of this study were to describe the prevalence, clinical characteristics, time of onset, and outcomes of bacterial, viral, and fungal infections in HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV)-coinfected orthotopic liver transplant recipients and to identify risk factors for developing severe infections. We studied 84 consecutive HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who underwent liver transplantation at 17 sites in Spain between 2002 and 2006 and were followed until December 2009. The median age was 42 years, and 76% were men. The median follow-up was 2.6 years (interquartile range = 1.25-3.53 years), and 54 recipients (64%) developed at least 1 infection. Thirty-eight (45%) patients had bacterial infections, 21 (25%) had cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections (2 had CMV disease), 13 (15%) had herpes simplex virus infections, and 16 (19%) had fungal infections (7 cases were invasive). Nine patients (11%) developed 10 opportunistic infections with a 44% mortality rate. Forty-three of 119 infectious episodes (36%) occurred in the first month after transplantation, and 53 (45%) occurred after the sixth month. Thirty-six patients (43%) had severe infections. Overall, 36 patients (43%) died, and the deaths were related to severe infections in 7 cases (19%). Severe infections increased the mortality rate almost 3-fold [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.5-5.8]. Independent factors for severe infections included a pretransplant Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score >15 (HR = 3.5, 95% CI = 1.70-7.1), a history of AIDS-defining events before transplantation (HR = 4.0, 95% CI = 1.9-8.6), and non-tacrolimus-based immunosuppression (HR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.3-4.8). In conclusion, the rates of severe and opportunistic infections are high in HIV/HCV-coinfected liver recipients and especially in those with a history of AIDS, a high MELD score, or non-tacrolimus-based immunosuppression.

Background and objective The impact of pandemic influenza A (H1N1)v infection is still unknown but it is associated with a high case-fatality rate. Methods This was a prospective, observational, multicentre study conducted in 144 Spanish intensive care units. Demographic and clinical data were reviewed for all cases of pandemic influenza A (H1N1)v infection reported from 23 June 2009 through 11 February 2010 and confirmed by reverse transcriptase PCR assay. Results Out of 872 cases reported by statewide surveillance, data for the first 131 deceased patients were analysed. Thirty-seven patients (28.2%) died within the first 14 days. The median age of these patients was 46 years (interquartile range 35-58) and 60.3% were male. Twenty-eight patients (21.4%) did not present with any comorbidities on admission. Forty-six per cent of patients were reported to be obese and 22 (16.8%) had COPD. The vast majority of the patients (72.5%) had viral pneumonia; 95.4% of these had bilateral patchy alveolar opacities (predominantly basal), affecting three or four quadrants. One hundred and fifteen patients (87.8%) developed multi-organ dysfunction syndrome. Ninety-seven patients (74%) required vasopressor drugs, 37 (27.2%) received renal replacement therapy, and 47 (35.1%) received intravenous corticosteroids on admission to the intensive care unit. Only 68 patients (51.9%) received empirical antiviral treatment. Conclusions One-third of patients with pandemic influenza A (H1N1)v infection died within the first two weeks and these were young patients, with rapidly progressive viral pneumonia as the primary cause of admission. Obese patients were at high risk but one in four patients did not present with any risk factors on admission. Only half the patients received empirical antiviral therapy and this was administered late.

The characteristics of pandemic influenza 2009 differ from those of seasonal influenza. In Australia-New Zealand the number of admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) increased by 15-fold in the southern winter. We compared the characteristics of the Spanish series of the first ICU admissions in July with those of series published in Canada and Australia-New Zealand up to October 2009. Unlike the situation in Spain, only half the admissions in Canada and Australia-New Zealand were due to primary viral pneumonia but bacterial pneumonia was much more frequent. In all series, young people, many of whom had no comborbidities, were the most frequently affected population. The most common comorbidities were obesity, chronic pulmonary disease, pregnancy and heart disease. Diagnosis through reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction can have a false-negative rate of 10%. Shock and acute renal insufficiency were more frequent in the Spanish series. A total of 10-30% of patients required ICU admission and 6 of 10 patients required mechanical ventilation with a high frequency of failure of non-invasive ventilation (75%). Mortality was similar among the series (14-25%) but was higher in patients requiring mechanical ventilation (30%). Early oseltamivir administration (< 48h after symptom onset) has been associated with better outcome. Therefore, early administration of this drug in patients with risk factors or those who, although free from risk factors, show clinical progression, could reduce ICU admissions and mortality.

Background & Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin for the recurrence of hepatitis C after liver transplantation in HCV/ HIV-coinfected patients. Methods: This was a prospective, multicentre cohort study, including 78 HCV/HIV-coinfected liver transplant patients who received treatment for recurrent hepatitis C. For comparison, we included 176 matched HCV-monoinfected patients who underwent liver transplantation during the same period of time at the same centres and were treated for recurrent hepatitis C. Results: Antiviral therapy was discontinued prematurely in 56% and 39% (p = 0.016), mainly because of toxicity (22% and 11%, respectively; p = 0.034). Sustained virological response (SVR) was achieved in 21% of the coinfected patients and in 36% of monoinfected patients (p = 0.013). For genotype 1, SVR rates were 10% and 33% (p = 0.002), respectively; no significant differences were observed for the other genotypes. A multivariate analysis based on the whole series identified HIV-coinfection as an independent predictor of lack of SVR (OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.06-0.42). Other predictors of SVR were donor age, pretreatment HCV viral load, HCV genotype, and early virological response. SVR was associated with a significant improvement in survival: 5-year survival after antiviral treatment was 79% for HCV/HIV-coinfected patients with SVR vs. 43% for those without (p = 0.02) and 92% vs. 60% in HCV-monoinfected patients (p < 0.001), respectively. Conclusions: The response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin was poorer in HCV/HIV-coinfected liver recipients, particularly those with genotype 1. However, when SVR was achieved, survival of coinfected patients increased significantly. (C) 2014 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The role of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in acute respiratory failure caused by viral pneumonia remains controversial. Our objective was to evaluate the use of NIV in a cohort of (H1N1)v pneumonia. Usefulness and success of NIV were assessed in a prospective, observational registry of patients with influenza A (H1N1) virus pneumonia in 148 Spanish intensive care units (ICUs) in 2009–10. Significant variables for NIV success were included in a multivariate analysis. In all, 685 patients with confirmed influenza A (H1N1)v viral pneumonia were admitted to participating ICUs; 489 were ventilated, 177 with NIV. The NIV was successful in 72 patients (40.7%), the rest required intubation. Low Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II, low Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and absence of renal failure were associated with NIV success. Success of NIV was independently associated with fewer than two chest X-ray quadrant opacities (OR 3.5) and no vasopressor requirement (OR 8.1). However, among patients with two or more quadrant opacities, a SOFA score ≤7 presented a higher success rate than those with SOFA score >7 (OR 10.7). Patients in whom NIV was successful required shorter ventilation time, shorter ICU stay and hospital stay than NIV failure. In patients in whom NIV failed, the delay in intubation did not increase mortality (26.5% versus 24.2%). Clinicians used NIV in 25.8% of influenza A (H1N1)v viral pneumonia admitted to ICU, and treatment was effective in 40.6% of them. NIV success was associated with shorter hospital stay and mortality similar to non-ventilated patients. NIV failure was associated with a mortality similar to those who were intubated from the start.

Objective: A large proportion of patients infected with 2009 infl uenza A(H1N1) (A[H1N1]) are obese. Obesity has been proposed as a risk factor infl uencing outcome in these patients. However, its role remains unclear. We evaluate the outcome of patients who are obese and infected with A(H1N1) in the ICU, determining whether obesity is a risk factor for mortality. Methods: This was a prospective, observational, and multicenter study performed in 144 ICUs in Spain. Data were obtained from the Grupo de Trabajo en Enfermedades Infecciosas de la Sociedad Espanola de Medicina Intensiva, Critica y Unidades Coronarias (GTEI/SEMICYUC) registry. Adult patients with A(H1N1) that was confi rmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction were included in the analysis. Patients who were obese (BMI . 30) were compared with patients who were nonobese. Cox regression analysis was used to determine adjusted mortality. Differences of P , .05 were considered signifi cant. Results: In January 2010, the GTEI/SEMICYUC registry had complete records for 416 patients. One hundred and fi fty patients (36.1%) were obese, of whom 67 (44.7%) were morbidly obese (BMI . 40). Mechanical ventilation (MV) was more frequently applied in patients who were obese (64% vs 52.4%, P , .01) Patients with obesity remained on MV longer than patients who were nonobese (6.5 6 10.3 days vs 9.3 6 9.7 days, P 5 .02), had longer ICU length of stay (10.8 6 12.1 days vs 13.7 6 11.7 days, P 5 .03), and had longer hospitalization (18.2 6 14.6 days vs 22.2 6 16.5 days, P 5 .02). Mortality adjusted by severity and potential confounders identifi ed that obesity was not signifi cantly associated with ICU mortality (hazard ratio, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.69-1.75; P 5 .68). Conclusions: In our cohort, patients who were obese and infected with A(H1N1) did not have increased mortality. However, there was an association between obesity and higher ICU resource consumption.

Introduction Several aspects of ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT)—including diagnostic criteria, overlap with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and appropriate treatment regimens—remain poorly defined. The objectives of this study were to survey reported practices in the clinical and microbiological diagnosis of VAT and to evaluate perceptions of the impact of VAT on patient outcomes. Methods We developed a questionnaire consisting of (a) characteristics of the respondent, the ICU, and hospital; (b) current clinical and microbiological diagnostic approach; (c) empirical antibiotic therapy; and (d) the perception of physicians regarding the clinical impact of VAT and its implications. Results A total of 288 ICUs from 16 different countries answered the survey: 147 (51%) from the Latin American (LA) group and 141 (49%) from Spain, Portugal, and France (SPF group). The majority of respondents (n = 228; 79.2%) reported making the diagnosis of VAT based on clinical and microbiological criteria, and 40 (13.9%) by clinical criteria alone. Approximately half (50.3%) of the respondents agreed that patients should receive antibiotics for the treatment of VAT. Out of all respondents, 269 (93.4%) assume that a VAT episode increases ICU length of stay, and this perception is greater in the LA group (97.3%) than in the SPF group (89.4%, P