Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) Bloodstream Infections (BSI) in Patients with Hematological Malignancies: Is the Sick Getting Sicker?.

Patients with hematologic malignancies and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients are at high risk for bacterial BSI. Data describing the prognosis and outcomes of VRE BSI in this patient population is limited. We performed a retrospective chart review of all cases of VRE BSI occurring between February 1996 and December 2002 on the Leukemia/HSCT unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. 68 episodes of VRE BSI were observed in 60 patients with acute (53%) or chronic (8%) leukemia, NHL (22%), or other malignant hematologic disorders (17%).46 were autologous (13%), related (32%) and URD (32%) transplant recipients. Forty days prior to the VRE BSI, 70% were colonized with VRE, 95% had broad-spectrum antibiotic exposure and 42% had non-VRE BSI, 35% pneumonia, 22% CMV reactivation, 10% fungal infection. At the time of the VRE BSI, 42% of allograft recipients had active acute GVHD and 32% chronic GVHD. Only 57% were neutropenic, 52% had refractory/relapsed malignancy, and 60% had end organ dysfunction with a median APACHE II score of 17. VRE was easily eradicated from the bloodstream after initiation of anti-VRE therapy (median time to clearance 1 (range 1–9) day). 3 patients died within 48 hours of the VRE BSI from causes unrelated to the BSI. Median survival after VRE BSI was 19 days. Only 4 deaths were directly attributable to the VRE BSI. Age, ECOG PS ≥ 2 on admission, HSCT, pneumonia, mechanical ventilation, acute neurologic dysfunction, receipt of anti-fungal drugs, and low APACHE II score were significant factors associated with death by univariate analysis, while pneumonia, receipt of anti-fungal drugs, and low APACHE II score at the time of the VRE BSI remained significant after multivariate analysis.

In summary, our analysis suggests that in patients with hematological malignancies, VRE does not have the microbiologic behavior of a virulent pathogen. VRE BSI may simply be a marker of these patients’s already existing critical medical condition.