Listeria monocytogenes peritonitis: presentation, clinical features, treatment, and outcome

Abstract

Backround. Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a serious complication in cirrhotic patients. Gram (–) (E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae), and Gram (+) (Streptococci, Staphylococci) bacteria are most frequently cultured from patients'ascites. Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is scarcely reported as a causative agent. Objective. Our objective is to describe Lm peritonitis as a clinical entity, including its presentation, clinical features, treatment, and the potential factors that might affect survival outcome. Material and methods. Data sources: MEDLINE, Scholar.Google, Scopus databases, including English, Spanish, French, and German language papers published between 1966 and June 2011, and reference lists. Data extraction: investigators abstracted details about medical history, disease presentation, laboratory data, treatment and outcome. Data synthesis: One-hundred and twenty-eight cases with known survival outcome – eighty-six cirrhotics, seventeen individuals undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and another twenty-five with other or no underline condition were reviewed. An additional number of twenty-five cases with unknown outcome were searched in Listeria studies published from 1990 to 2009 and were only used for calculating worldwide distribution. Conclusion. Cirrhotics, mostly alcoholics, presented with fever and abdominal pain. Those who succumbed had significantly higher peripheral WBC count (15622 vs. 8155 cells/mm³, p = 0.01) and (%) polymorphonuclear cells in differential count (83.3 vs. 71%, p = 0.001). Higher mortality was experienced in those with comorbidities, and those who presented with encephalopathy. Lower mortality was experienced in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Ascites was neutrocytic in 86% of the samples. In the sum of the cases mortality was 27.3%, with significantly highest rates in the elderly, in patients with bacteremia, immunosuppression, hematological malignancies, and lowest rates in those who presented with abdominal pain and in diabetics (type I or II). The latter observation was surprising and could be considered a single fortuitous fact. Initial appropriate treatment was associated with significantly better outcome (p = 0.002) than inappropriate; combination therapy with an aminoglycoside was superior to monotherapy (p = 0.038).

Key Words::

• ascites
• diabetes mellitus
• listeria monocytogenes
• peritonitis
• treatment

Acknowledgments

We thank Eirini Delikoura, secretary of the “Hippokration” General Hospital's library and the Greek National Documentation Centre who supplied us with several of the searched articles.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.