• Young Kyung Yoon, Dae Won Park, Jang Wook Sohn, Hyo Youl Kim, Yeon-Sook Kim, Chang-Seop Lee, Mi Suk Lee, Seong-Yeol Ryu, Hee-Chang Jang, Young Ju Choi, Cheol-In Kang, Hee Jung Choi, Seung Soon Lee, Shin Woo Kim, Sang Il Kim, Eu Suk Kim, Jeong Yeon Kim, Kyung Sook Yang, Kyong Ran Peck, and Min Ja Kim.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
• Bmc Infect Dis. 2016 Jul 15; 16: 331.

BackgroundThe purported value of empirical therapy to cover methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been debated for decades. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of inappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy on clinical outcomes in patients with healthcare-associated MRSA bacteremia (HA-MRSAB).MethodsA prospective, multicenter, observational study was conducted in 15 teaching hospitals in the Republic of Korea from February 2010 to July 2011. The study subjects included adult patients with HA-MRSAB. Covariate adjustment using the propensity score was performed to control for bias in treatment assignment. The predictors of in-hospital mortality were determined by multivariate logistic regression analyses.ResultsIn total, 345 patients with HA-MRSAB were analyzed. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 33.0 %. Appropriate empirical antibiotic therapy was given to 154 (44.6 %) patients. The vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentrations of the MRSA isolates ranged from 0.5 to 2 mg/L by E-test. There was no significant difference in mortality between propensity-matched patient pairs receiving inappropriate or appropriate empirical antibiotics (odds ratio [OR] = 1.20; 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 0.71-2.03). Among patients with severe sepsis or septic shock, there was no significant difference in mortality between the treatment groups. In multivariate analyses, severe sepsis or septic shock (OR = 5.45; 95 % CI = 2.14-13.87), Charlson's comorbidity index (per 1-point increment; OR = 1.52; 95 % CI = 1.27-1.83), and prior receipt of glycopeptides (OR = 3.24; 95 % CI = 1.08-9.67) were independent risk factors for mortality.ConclusionInappropriate empirical antibiotic therapy was not associated with clinical outcome in patients with HA-MRSAB. Prudent use of empirical glycopeptide therapy should be justified even in hospitals with high MRSA prevalence.

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