[Do latent bacteremia and endotoxinemia exist in cirrhotics? A study of 48 patients]

Forty-eight patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and absence of patent infection were assessed for asymptomatic bacteriemia and endotoxemia. 280 blood cultures have been performed and 190 serum samples collected for study by two different methods of the limulus test (LT). Bacteriemia was found in 7 blood cultures from 3 patients. In these patients, occult infection was demonstrated in each case (cholecystitis, ulcerated rectal adenocarcinoma, cutaneous infection). Sixteen LT from 14 patients were positive initially. Only one LT remained positive after control by two different methods. These results suggest that in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and in the absence of patent infection: 1) bacteriemia is an infrequent feature and, if present, explained by other causes than cirrhosis. 2) LT is negative in systemic blood when rigorous controls are performed, and endotoxemia cannot be substantiated by this test.