Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci in Patients Awaiting Liver Transplantation at the University of Michigan: Prevalence, Risk Factors, Natural History and Outcome of Colonization

Enterococci, especially vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE), are increasing in prevalence in many hospitals in the United States. Patients undergoing liver transplantation are at particular risk for developing infection due to VRE. The effect of prior colonization with VRE on the outcome of liver transplantation is unknown. This prospective study will ascertain the prevalence of gastrointestinal colonization with vancomycin resistant enterococci among patients awaiting liver transplantation at the University of Michigan Health System. Risk factors for acquisition of the organism, natural history of colonization and outcome in colonized patients will also be determined. All patients currently listed on a priority waiting list for liver transplantation at UMHS will be invited to participate. Patients will receive a standardized letter from their primary gastroenterologist describing the rationale for the study. Patients will be contacted by telephone by a member of the study team in order to arrange an appointment in the GCRC at the time of their regularly scheduled Transplant Clinic appointment in order discuss their potential participation in the study. Patients who give informed consent, will be interviewed using a standard interview questionnaire. Demographic and historical data relevant to the risk of VRE colonization will be collected during the interview. A sample will be obtained via rectal swab for culture. Rectal swabs for culture and collection of information on the standardized questionnaire will be repeated every six months while the patient is awaiting liver transplantation. When a patient undergoes liver transplantation, a culture will be obtained at the time of admission and weekly after post-operatively until discharge. All patients will be followed for 60 days after transplantation to assess several primary outcomes, including operative and post-operative complications, VRE infection and mortality. Rectal swabs will be the only procedure performed for the purposes of this study. Culture results will not be made available to the transplant team in order to avoid bias in clinical care. All data will be entered into an electronic database. GCRC statisticians will assist in the analysis of risk factors and outcome analysis.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Michigan
      • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109
        • 3316 Taubman Center, Box 0378 1500 E Medical Center Drive

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All patients 18 years or older currently listed on a priority waiting list for liver transplantation at the University of Michigan will be invited to participate.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 19, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 19, 2000

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

May 22, 2000

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

June 24, 2005

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2005

Last Verified

November 1, 2001

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NCRR-M01RR00042-1658
  • M01RR000042 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Liver Diseases

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