Xiaotong Tian,1,2 Jing Lin,1,2 Menglan Zhou,3,4 Ying Ge,1 Taisheng Li,1 Li Zhang,1 Zhengyin Liu1 

1Department of Infectious Disease, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Graduate School, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Clinical Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 4Beijing Key Laboratory for Mechanisms Research and Precision Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Diseases, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Zhengyin Liu; Li Zhang, Department of Infectious Disease, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, Email liuzhy@pumch.cn; zhangli36@pumch.cn

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcomes and safety of tigecycline (TGC) plus cefoperazone/sulbactam (CPS) or TGC monotherapy in patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) caused by Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB).
Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of multicenter data from 62 Chinese hospitals with CRAB HAP. Risk factors for receiving TGC with CPS therapy and predictors of mortality were assessed using multivariate logistic and Cox regression analyses, respectively. Propensity score matching (PSM) evaluated the efficacy and safety of antimicrobial regimens.
Results: A total of the 180 patients were included, with 95 receiving TGC monotherapy and 85 receiving combination therapy. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older age (P = 0.011), and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (P = 0.007) were significant risk factors for combination therapy. Multivariate Cox regression demonstrated that combination therapy was associated with a significantly higher risk of 90-day mortality (P = 0.031). Patients in the standard-dose TGC (SDT) plus CPS subgroup had significantly higher rates of SOFA scores ≥ 7 (P = 0.009) and MV used (P = 0.028), as well as higher 30-/90-day mortality compared to high-dose TGC (HDT) plus CPS group. TGC plus CPS significantly reduced CRP levels (P = 0.009), while the variations in ALT, TBIL, Cr, Hb, and PLT levels did not differ between different antimicrobial regimens after PSM.
Conclusion: HDT and CPS combination therapy was more effective in patients with advanced age and more severe condition. Safety profiles of different antimicrobial regimens were similar with liver, kidneys, and coagulation functions.

Keywords: carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, hospital acquired pneumonia, tigecycline, cefoperazone/sulbactam, risk factors