Comparison of fungal vs bacterial infections in the medical intensive liver unit: Cause or corollary for high mortality?

Table 5 Comparison of pre-infection variables between liver patients in intensive care unit with fungal and bacterial cohorts

Characteristic	Bacteria, n = 1831	Fungal, n = 271	P value2
APACHE III Score	91 (71, 112)	108 (96, 121)	0.003
Acute Physiology Score	65 (50, 90)	86 (75, 108)	0.003
MELD-Na (admission)	29 (23, 35)	32 (28, 38)	0.041
Stress dose steroid use in past 3 months	29 (16)	6 (22)	0.4
Foley in past 48 h	80 (44)	5 (19)	0.013
Central line in past 48 h	73 (40)	14 (52)	0.2
Positive MRSA nasal swab	15 (8.2)	5 (19)	0.15
Prior MDRO infection/colonization	39 (21)	11 (41)	0.027
Regular LVP	72 (39)	14 (52)	0.2
Immunosuppressive medications (at time of admission)	40 (22)	6 (22)	> 0.9
Charlson Comorbidity Score	6.00 (5.00, 7.00)	6.00 (4.00, 7.00)	0.5
Prior antibiotic classes exposed	4.00 (3.00, 5.00)	4.00 (3.00, 5.00)	0.9
Prior antifungal classes exposed			0.11
0	104 (57)	10 (37)
1	58 (32)	14 (52)
2	16 (8.8)	2 (7.4)
3	3 (1.7)	1 (3.7)
COVID within 30 d prior	9 (4.9)	2 (7.4)	0.6

¹n (%); Median (IQR).

²Pearson's Chi-squared test; Wilcoxon rank sum test; Fisher's exact test.

MRSA: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; MDRO: Multi-drug resistant organism; LVP: Large-volume paracentesis; MELD-Na: Model for End Stage Liver Disease-Sodium; APACHE: Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation.