What is it about?
Our observational study evaluated patients in the ICUs of two large hospitals in Saudi Arabia who had invasive candida infection. We found that the most frequent species were albicans (38%), tropicalis (17%), glabrata (16%), and parapsilosis (14%) and that non-albicans species was more common when candida grew from the blood rather than from another specimen. We also found that antifungal therapy was frequently given after culture results were known suggesting that the clinical suspicion was low. Resistance to fluconazole was common (28%), but it was rare to caspofungin (3%) and amphotericin B (3%). Approximately 60% patients who had invasive candida infection died in the hospital.
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Why is it important?
The study showed that non-albicans species accounted for more than 60% of invasive candida infections which may guide antifungal therapy. We found that therapy was frequently delayed after culture results were out suggesting that intensivists should have higher clinical suspicion of this disease that is frequently fatal.
Perspectives
This study was conducted over several years and illustrated a successful collaboration between healthcare providers at two tertiary-care hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The article contains detailed information about invasive candida infection epidemiology, patient characteristics, real-life management and outcome.
Hasan Al-Dorzi
King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Invasive Candidiasis in Critically Ill Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study in 2 Tertiary Care Centers, Journal of Intensive Care Medicine, April 2018, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0885066618767835.
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