CANDIDURIA IN CRITICALLY ILL CHILDREN - RISK-FACTORS AND PREDICTORS OF MORTALITY

We studied 28 cases of pediatric candiduria for risk factors and predi ctors for mortality among 101 children admitted within a 2-year period to two pediatric intensive care units in a tertiary hospital. The cas e-control study, comparing candidemic and noncandiduric children match ed for underlying disease, age, APACHE II score, and surgical interven tion, revealed several risk factors for candiduria. Urinary tract abno rmalities, use of a urinary catheter, prior dialysis, total parenteral nutrition, use of a vascular catheter, artificial ventilation, and du ration of therapy with broad-spectrum antibiotics were statistically s ignificantly associated with candiduria (P < .001-.04). Univariate ana lysis comparing risk factors between survivors and nonsurvivors showed that congenital malformations, organ failure, surgery within 1 week, ventilatory support for > 21 days, use of more than four antibiotics i n therapy for greater than or equal to 10 days, and absence of antifun gal therapy were significant predictors of poor outcome (P < .001-.04) .