BACKGROUND

Respiratory tract (RT) colonization with spp. is common in ventilated patients. We aimed to investigate the epidemiology of candidal colonization of the RT in patients with malignancies and to assess its prognostic impact.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted in two intensive care units (ICUs). All adult patients with proven malignancies requiring invasive mechanical ventilation ≥48 h were included. Two groups were compared (+ and -).

RESULTS

One hundred and sixty-one patients were included. Twenty-one (13%) patients grew species in their endotracheal cultures. represented 47.6% of the isolates. In a multivariate analysis, only candiduria was associated with candidal colonization of the RT (odds ratio = 3.86; 95% confidence interval: 1.47-10.13; = 0.006). The incidence of ventilator-acquired pneumonia was similar between + and - groups (38.1% and 32.1%, respectively; = 0.588). The 28-day mortality rate was 55.9% with no significant difference between + and - groups (66.7% and 54.3%, respectively; = 0.287). However, + patients had a longer duration of mechanical ventilation (16 [9.5-29] vs. 6 [2-16] days; = 0.002) and length of ICU stay (LOS; 20 [11.1-26.5] vs. 9 [3-19] days; = 0.004).

CONCLUSION

Candidal colonization of the RT has no impact on 28-day mortality. However, it significantly increases the duration of mechanical ventilation and the LOS.