[Infections during the hospitalization of patients with liver cirrhosis]

We studied retrospectively the clinical records of 291 hospital patients with liver cirrhosis, 95% of which was alcohol related. Within this group, 114 patients presented 155 episodes of infection in 144 separate hospital admissions. In a previous communication, we pointed out that although infection was the fourth cause of admission, it was the main cause of death in this group. The main incidence of infection was among the female group. The most common infections episodes were respiratory and bacterial spontaneous peritonitis (BSP). On admission, 57% of the patients were diagnosed as belonging to the C Child group; 38% presented sepsis and 22% were hospitalary infections. The most frequent infections were respiratory and BSP. We obtained bacteriologic documentation in 55% of the episodes with prevalence of Gram negative bacilli (E. coli), with high relative frequency of neumoccocus. The most frequent complications were related to hepatic insufficiency. Global death rate was 27.1%, while nosocomial death rates were 42.1% and 40.9% for patients with Child C. We observed the highest incidence of mortality in patients with SBP and non localized bacteriemia. Survival rates were 42% for 2 years and 18% for 5 years. In summary, we stress the relevancy of checking the presence of infection systematically in every cirrhotic patient with encephalopathy and/or renal insufficiency without justifiable cause.