Abstract
Background: No studies have evaluated the risk factors and outcomes of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) infections in small bowel (SBT) and multivisceral (including small bowel) transplantation (MVT). Methods: SBT and MVT recipients with SA infections (22 cases) were retrospectively identified and compared with matched non-SA-infected recipient controls (44). The characteristics were compared with Friedman and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests. Conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors, and Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox proportional hazard model were performed for survival analysis. Results: The median age was 2.07 years (range, 0.76-54.04). Forty-three percent of the first SA infections were bloodstream infections, 30% lung infections, and 26% surgical site infections; 36% of these isolates were methicillin-resistant SA. Median time (days) to surgical site infections (41.0; range, 0-89) was significantly shorter than that to lung infections (266; range, 130-378) (P = 0.01). By univariate analysis, it was found that cases were more likely to have cytomegalovirus (CMV) sero-mismatch (odds ratio [OR] = 3.03 [95% confidence interval, 0.88-10.43]; P = 0.08), and controls were more likely to receive mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) treatment (0.09 [0.001-0.82]; P = 0.03). By multivariable analysis, patients with CMV sero-mismatch were found to have higher odds of developing SA infection (OR, 2.92; P = 0.085), whereas MMF had a protective effect (OR, 0.08; P = 0.031), adjusting for matched criteria. SA cases had shorter survival than controls (mean survival, 28.5 vs. 45.8 months [P = 0.04]) and were 2.18 times more likely to die (1.02-4.67, P = 0.04). Conclusions: SA infections were associated with a significant shorter survival time and higher risk of death. The presence of CMV sero-mismatch and the absence of MMF treatment were found to be the risk factors for SA infections after SBT and MVT.