MRSA Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about MRSA, including details on methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, hospitals, infection, antibiotic resistance, superbugs.

Predictors of mortality for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus health-care-associated pneumonia: specific evaluation of vancomycin pharmacokinetic indices.

Jeffres MN, Isakow W, Doherty JA, McKinnon PS, Ritchie DJ, Micek ST, Kollef MH

Department of Pharmacy, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, MO, USA.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this investigation was to determine whether vancomycin pharmacokinetic indexes (eg, serum trough concentrations or area under the concentration curve [AUC] values) were associated with mortality for patients with health-care-associated pneumonia (HCAP) attributed to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). DESIGN: A retrospective, single-center, observational cohort study. SETTING: Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a 1,200-bed urban teaching facility. PATIENTS: Adult patients requiring hospitalization who were identified as having HCAP attributed to MRSA by BAL semi-quantitative cultures. INTERVENTIONS: Retrospective data collection from automated hospital, microbiology, and pharmacy databases. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: One hundred two patients with MRSA HCAP were identified over a 6.5-year period. Thirty-two patients (31.4%) died during their hospitalization. The mean (+/- SD) vancomycin trough concentrations (13.6 +/- 5.9 vs 13.9 +/- 6.7 microg/mL, respectively; p = 0.866) and AUC values (351 +/- 143 vs 354 +/- 109 microg/h/mL, respectively; p = 0.941) did not differ between survivors and nonsurvivors. The stratification of the vancomycin trough concentrations and AUC values yielded no relationship with hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence that greater vancomycin trough concentrations or AUC values correlated with hospital outcome. Based on these results, aggressive dosing strategies for vancomycin (eg, trough concentrations of > 15 microg/mL) may not offer any advantage over traditional dose targets (range, 5 to 15 microg/mL).

Published 12 October 2006 in Chest, 130(4): 947-55.
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