Antimicrobial prescribing in patients with advanced-stage illness in the antimicrobial stewardship era.

OBJECTIVE: Antimicrobials are frequently administered to patients with an advanced-stage illness. Understanding the current practice of antimicrobial use at the end of life and the factors influencing physicians' prescribing behavior is necessary to develop an effective antimicrobial stewardship program and to provide optimal end-of-life care for terminally ill patients. DESIGN: A 1-year retrospective cohort study. SETTING: A public tertiary-care center.PatientsThe study included 260 adult patients who were hospitalized and later died at the study institution with an advanced-stage illness. RESULTS: Of 260 patients in our study cohort, 192 (73.8%) had an advanced-stage malignancy and 136 (52.3%) received antimicrobial therapy in the last 14 days of their life; of the latter, 60 (44.1%) received antimicrobials for symptom relief. Overall antimicrobial use in the last 14 days of life was 421.9 days of therapy per 1,000 patient days. Factors associated with antimicrobial use in this period included a history of antimicrobial use prior to the last 14 days of life during index hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 4.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.67-8.84) and antipyretic use in the last 14 days of life (aOR, 4.19; 95% CI, 2.01-8.71). CONCLUSION: Approximately half of the patients hospitalized with an advanced-stage illness received antimicrobials in the last 14 days of life. The factors associated with antimicrobial use at the end of life in this study are likely to explain physicians' prescribing behaviors. In the current era of antimicrobial stewardship, reconsidering antimicrobial use in terminally ill patients is necessary.

[The Efficacy of Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty and Stenting for Traumatic Vertebral Artery Dissection due to Cervical Vertebral Fracture].

A 73-year-old man was admitted at another hospital after a traffic accident. The diagnosis was cervical vertebral fracture. Despite conservative treatment, 5 days later he manifested dysarthria due to cerebellar infarction and was transferred to our hospital. Imaging studies revealed right vertebral arterial dissection at the level of the axial fracture. We performed percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting to address his subacute vertebral artery dissection prior to treating the cervical vertebral fracture using external fixation. His clinical course was good;ischemia did not recur after stenting and his dysarthria disappeared upon rehabilitation. Cerebral angiograms obtained 6 months later revealed no significant in-stent restenosis. While medical management tends to be the first-line treatment of traumatic vertebral artery dissection, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with stenting is necessary before treating other traumatic lesions to prevent neurologic events.