Comparison of the Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Positive Xpert Carba-R Tests for Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales According to Culture Positivity

Abstract

Background: We aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of patients with positive Xpert Carba-R assay results for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) according to CPE culture positivity. Methods: We retrospectively collected data for patients with positive CPE (positive Xpert Carba-R or culture) who underwent both tests from August 2018 to March 2021 in a 2700-bed tertiary referral hospital in Seoul, South Korea. We compared the clinical outcomes of patients positive for Xpert Carba-R according to whether they were positive (XPCP) or negative (XPCN) for CPE culture. Results: Of 322 patients with CPE who underwent both Xpert Carba-R and culture, 313 (97%) were positive for Xpert Carba-R for CPE. Of these, 87 (28%) were XPCN, and 226 (72%) were XPCP. XPCN patients were less likely to have a history of previous antibiotic use (75.9% vs 90.3%; P = .001) and to have Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (21.8% vs 48.9%; P