Comparison of characteristics of patients who died of and those who survived clostridium bacteraemia
| Characteristics | Number of patients (%) | p Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Died (n = 11) | Survived (n = 27) | ||
| *The percentages add up to more than 100% because some patients had more than one underlying disease. | |||
| NS, not significant. | |||
| Sex | |||
| Male | 9 (82) | 14 (52) | NS |
| Female | 2 (18) | 13 (48) | |
| Mean age (SD) | 49 (26.5) | 70 (23.9) | <0.05 |
| Underlying diseases* | |||
| Gastrointestinal tract disease | 6 (55) | 5 (19) | <0.05 |
| Hepatobiliary tract disease | 6 (55) | 5 (19) | <0.05 |
| Malignancy | 4 (36) | 7 (26) | NS |
| Hypertension | 2 (18) | 9 (33) | NS |
| Diabetes mellitus | 1 (9) | 6 (22) | NS |
| Cerebrovascular accident | 1 (9) | 5 (19) | NS |
| Immobilisation and/or bed sore | 1 (9) | 3 (11) | NS |
| Chronic renal failure | 2 (18) | 1 (4) | NS |
| Diagnosis | |||
| Primary bacteraemia | 4 (36) | 9 (33) | NS |
| Cholecystitis/cholangitis | 3 (27) | 9 (33) | NS |
| Other intra-abdominal infection | 3 (27) | 4 (15) | NS |
| Infected gangrene of extremities | 1 (9) | 2 (7) | NS |
| Infected bed sore | 0 (0) | 2 (7) | NS |
| Pneumonia | 0 (0) | 1 (4) | NS |
| Community/hospital acquired | |||
| Community | 7 (64) | 23 (85) | NS |
| Hospital | 4 (36) | 4 (15) | |
| Number of positive blood cultures | |||
| 1 | 11 (100) | 23 (85) | NS |
| 2 | 0 (0) | 4 (15) | |
| Mono/polymicrobial bacteraemia | |||
| Monomicrobial | 3 (27) | 16 (59) | NS |
| Polymicrobial | 8 (73) | 11 (41) | NS |