Impact of computerised provider order entry on the quality and quantity of clinical information included with investigation requests: an interrupted time series analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Relevant clinical information is vital to inform the analytical and interpretative phases of most investigations. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of implementation of computerised provider order entry (CPOE), featuring order-specific electronic order entry forms (eOEFs), on the quality and quantity of clinical information included with investigation requests. METHODS: The CPOE module of a commercially available electronic health record (Cerner Millennium) was implemented at a large, tertiary care centre. The laboratory information management system was interrogated to collect data on specimens sent for microbiological culture 1 year before implementation of CPOE (2018), immediately post implementation (2019) and 6 months post implementation (2020). An interrupted time series analysis was performed, using text mining, to evaluate the quality and quantity of free-text clinical information. RESULTS: In total, 39 919 specimens were collected from 16 458 patients. eOEFs were used to place 10 071 out of 13 735 orders in 2019 (73.3%), and 9155 out of 12 229 orders in 2020 (74.9%). No clinical details were included with 653 out of 39 919 specimens (1.6%), of which 22 (3.4%) were ordered using eOEFs. The median character count increased from 14 in 2018, to 41 in 2019, and 38 in 2020. An anti-infective agent was specified in 581 out of 13 955 requests (4.2%) in 2018; 5545 out of 13 735 requests (40.4%) in 2019; and 5215 out of 12 229 requests (42.6%) in 2020. Ciprofloxacin or piperacillin-tazobactam (Tazocin) were mentioned in the clinical details included with 421 out of 15 335 urine culture requests (2.7%), of which 406 (96.3%) were ordered using eOEFs. Subsequent detection of in vitro non-susceptibility led to a change in anti-infective therapy for five patients. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of CPOE, featuring order-specific eOEFs, significantly and sustainably improves the quality and quantity of clinical information included with investigation requests, resulting in changes to patient management that would not otherwise have occurred.

Evaluation of procalcitonin-guided antimicrobial stewardship in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Procalcitonin is a biomarker that may be able to identify patients with COVID-19 pneumonia who do not require antimicrobials for bacterial respiratory tract co-infections. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a procalcitonin-guided algorithm in rationalizing empirical antimicrobial prescriptions in non-critically ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. METHODS: Retrospective, single-site, cohort study in adults hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 pneumonia and receiving empirical antimicrobials for potential bacterial respiratory tract co-infection. Regression models were used to compare the following outcomes in patients with and without procalcitonin testing within 72 h of starting antimicrobials: antimicrobial consumption (DDD); antimicrobial duration; a composite safety outcome of death, admission to HDU/ICU or readmission to hospital within 30 days; and length of admission. Procalcitonin levels of ≤0.25 ng/L were interpreted as negatively predictive of bacterial co-infection. Effects were expressed as ratios of means (ROM) or prevalence ratios (PR) accordingly. RESULTS: 259 patients were included in the final analysis. Antimicrobial use was lower in patients who had procalcitonin measured within 72 h of starting antimicrobials: mean antimicrobial duration 4.4 versus 5.4 days, adjusted ROM 0.7 (95% CI 0.6-0.9); mean antimicrobial consumption 6.8 versus 8.4 DDD, adjusted ROM 0.7 (95% CI 0.6-0.8). Both groups had similar composite safety outcomes (adjusted PR 0.9; 95% CI 0.6-1.3) and lengths of admission (adjusted ROM 1.3; 95% CI 0.9-1.6). CONCLUSIONS: A procalcitonin-guided algorithm may allow for the safe reduction of antimicrobial usage in hospitalized non-critically ill patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

Lawsonella clevelandensis is a rare cause of infected chronic contained rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Lawsonella clevelandensis is an anaerobic, partially acid-fast, Gram-positive bacillus associated with abscess formation. We present the case of a 70-year-old male with chronic contained rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm (CCR-AAA) complicated by intra-abdominal abscess formation. An abdominal computed tomography scan revealed a rim-enhancing retroperitoneal collection tracking into the subcutaneous layer of the left flank and buttock, suggestive of CCR-AAA with infected haematoma. He underwent ultrasound-guided needle aspiration of the intra-abdominal collection. Conventional culture techniques failed to isolate L. clevelandensis , and the diagnosis was only confirmed by means of 16S rRNA PCR. The patient underwent branched endovascular repair of his aneurysm, and was commenced on treatment with co-amoxiclav, resulting in significant reduction in the size of the infected collection. This is only the second reported case of infection with L. clevelandensis in the UK, and the first reported case of this organism causing infected CCR-AAA.

Preventing sepsis; how can artificial intelligence inform the clinical decision-making process? A systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that is associated with increased mortality. Artificial intelligence tools can inform clinical decision making by flagging patients at risk of developing infection and subsequent sepsis. This systematic review aims to identify the optimal set of predictors used to train machine learning algorithms to predict the likelihood of an infection and subsequent sepsis. METHODS: This systematic review was registered in PROSPERO database (CRD42020158685). We conducted a systematic literature review across 3 large databases: Medline, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Embase. Quantitative primary research studies that focused on sepsis prediction associated with bacterial infection in adults in all care settings were eligible for inclusion. RESULTS: Seventeen articles met our inclusion criteria. We identified 194 predictors that were used to train machine learning algorithms, with 13 predictors used on average across all included studies. The most prevalent predictors included age, gender, smoking, alcohol intake, heart rate, blood pressure, lactate level, cardiovascular disease, endocrine disease, cancer, chronic kidney disease (eGFR<60 mL/min), white blood cell count, liver dysfunction, surgical approach (open or minimally invasive), and pre-operative haematocrit < 30 %. All included studies used artificial intelligence techniques, with average sensitivity 75.7 ± 17.88, and average specificity 63.08 ± 22.01. CONCLUSION: The type of predictors influenced the predictive power and predictive timeframe of the developed machine learning algorithm. Predicting the likelihood of sepsis through artificial intelligence can help concentrate finite resources to those patients who are most at risk. Future studies should focus on developing more sensitive and specific algorithms.

Salmonella Typhimurium gastroenteritis leading to chronic prosthetic vascular graft infection.

Introduction. It is estimated up to 6 % of prosthetic vascular grafts become infected. Staphylococcus aureus is predominant in early infection and coagulase-negative staphylococci are predominant in late infections. Enterobacteriaceae cause 14-40 % of prosthetic vascular graft infections. This is, to our knowledge the first reported case of Salmonella gastroenteritis causing chronic prosthetic vascular graft infection (PVGI). Case presentation. A 57 years old lady presented with signs and symptoms of prosthetic vascular graft infection. Three years earlier, she had undergone a prosthetic axillo-femoral bypass graft for critical limb ischaemia. The infected prosthetic vascular graft was removed and Salmonella Typhimurium was isolated on culture. In the intervening period, Salmonella Typhimurium was isolated from a faecal specimen, collected during an episode of acute gastroenteritis. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) showed that the respective Salmonella Typhimurium isolates differed by only a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Salmonella Typhimurium was not isolated on culture of a faecal specimen collected five days following cessation of antimicrobial therapy. Six months after removal of the prosthetic graft, the patient remains under follow-up for her peripheral vascular disease, which currently requires no further surgical intervention. Conclusion. This case has clear implications for the management of chronic PVGI. It is vital to collect high-quality surgical specimens for microbiological analysis and empirical choices of antibiotics are unlikely to cover all potential pathogens. It may also be prudent to enquire about a history of acute gastroenteritis when assessing patients presenting with chronic PVGI.

Crystals seen on CSF microscopy in a case of suspected subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Although crystals are rarely identified on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) microscopy, their presence can be of significant diagnostic value. We report a case of oxalate crystals seen on CSF microscopy of a 43-year-old woman. The patient presented with headaches, nausea and vomiting. CT of the head showed a small focus of hyper-density, suspicious of haemorrhage, in the right side of the pontine cistern. CSF cell count was within the normal range. Although no organisms were seen on microscopy, copious oxalate crystals were seen. The same crystals were seen on microscopy of CSF collected in a fluoride oxalate container used for glucose analysis. A follow-up contrast-enhanced CT angiogram did not demonstrate any abnormalities. It transpired that excess CSF had been collected into a fluoride oxalate container. This had subsequently been decanted into a plain container for microbiological analysis. Correct specimen collection should be emphasised when teaching lumbar puncture technique.

The rising tide of bloodstream infections with Actinomyces species: bimicrobial infection with Actinomyces odontolyticus and Escherichia coli in an intravenous drug user.

Clinicians of all specialties need to be aware of a recent, nationwide increase in the number of Actinomyces bloodstream infections. We report a case of bimicrobial bloodstream infection with Actinomyces odontolyticus and Escherichia coli in an intravenous drug user. A 36-year-old, male intravenous drug user was admitted with acute-onset pleuritic chest pain, back pain, pyrexia, tachycardia, tachypnoea and hypotension. Chest CT showed multiple, bilateral, cavitating lung lesions, most likely the result of septic emboli originating from an infected deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Blood cultures led to a mixed growth of A. odontolyticus, identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF), and E. coli. The rising tide of bloodstream infections with Actinomyces species is likely to continue with the increasing availability of sophisticated molecular identification techniques, including MALDI-TOF. In this case, the results of antimicrobial susceptibility tests were particularly important because the E. coli was susceptible to ciprofloxacin, whereas the A. odontolyticus was resistant.

Assessing and improving adherence with multidrug therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Adherence with multidrug therapy (MDT) in the treatment of leprosy is important to minimise the risk of relapse and avoid the emergence of drug resistance. Adherence is defined as the extent to which the patient's behaviour matches recommendations from the prescriber. This paper reviews the methods for assessing adherence with MDT in leprosy, and community approaches to improving adherence based on evidence from the treatment of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV, as well as leprosy. METHODS: To identify and summarise the available literature regarding the assessment of treatment regularity in leprosy, a literature search of MEDLINE was conducted using the following search terms: 'leprosy' AND ('adherence' OR 'compliance' OR 'concordance'). To identify evidence for interventions that have involved community members in HIV, TB or leprosy adherence support, a literature search was conducted using the key terms and medical subject headings 'treatment or adherence' 'community,' 'HIV, TB or Leprosy' and 'low and middle income countries' combined using Boolean operators. RESULTS: Leprosy programmes routinely use defaulting and treatment completion as proxy measures of adherence as recommended by the WHO global strategy. However, a number of other methods have been used to assess adherence including questionnaires, pill counts, as well as direct measures based on testing urine for the presence of dapsone. Direct methods were extensively used during the dapsone mono-therapy era but there is little evidence of their use in MDT. Use of multiple methods of assessing adherence improves the accuracy and reliability of the results. Community activities in TB and HIV such as variants of treatment observation, and/or wider programmes of counselling or direct support to the patient or their family or to increase community or social support were shown to improve treatment outcomes. Outcomes evaluated included treatment default and completion, clinical indicators, and adherence (pill-count, self report). CONCLUSIONS: Adherence is very important in leprosy and regular assessment of medication adherence together with constructive feedback and counselling of patients is likely to be beneficial. Leprosy programme can learn from adherence support interventions developed by both TB and HIV programmes.

Qualitative assessment of medication adherence at an urban leprosy outpatient clinic in Hyderabad, India.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to measure medication adherence amongst outpatients attending an urban leprosy clinic in Hyderabad, India. DESIGN: In this study of observational design, the urine spot test and Morisky Scale questionnaire were concurrently used as qualitative measures of medication adherence. RESULTS: Fifty two patients met the inclusion criteria for this study; 13 patients (25%) were non-adherent according to the Morisky scale questionnaire and 17 patients (33%) according to the urine spot test. 48% of patients were non-adherent on the basis of the urine spot test and/or the Morisky scale questionnaire. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that poor medication adherence remains an ongoing issue in the management of outpatients with leprosy.