There was no difference in 7 day clinical response with CT versus MT (47.4% versus 39.7%, P = 0.38), even after controlling for immune status, APACHE II score and polymicrobial pneumonia (adjusted OR 1.51, 95% CI 0.63-3.65).
Most MRSA strains causing bacteremia belonged to SCCmec type III-ST239 and exhibited pulsotype H. According to the multivariate analysis, age ≥ 60 years old (P = 0.022), female gender (P = 0.0003), pneumonia (P = 0.011) as source of infection as well as high APACHE II, Charlson comorbidity Index and Pitt's bacteremia scores were significantly associated with patient's mortality.
Serum lactate and sphinganine levels were positively correlated with confusion, urea level, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age > 65 years (CURB-65), pneumonia severity index (PSI) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores, while DHEA-S inversely correlated with the three scoring systems.
Furthermore, the plasma TIMP-1 concentration was positively correlated with the pneumonia severity index (PSI), the CURB score, the results of the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) and the length of the hospital stay.