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. 2025 Mar 31;25:446. doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-10834-5

Table 1.

Patients, infections and treatments characteristics

Variable Total
(n = 91)
Linezolid
(n = 40)
Vancomycin (n = 51) p-value
Age (years); median [IQR] 57 [46; 66] 57 [45; 64] 59 [48; 66] 0.4
Female; n (%) 45 (49%) 23 (58%) 22 (43%) 0.3
BMI (kg/m2); median [IQR] 25.5 [21.5; 27.5] 24.5 [21.7; 26.7] 24.9 [21.1; 28.4] 0.5
Immunodepression; n (%) 1 (1%) 0 (0%) 1 (2%) > 0.9
Active neoplasia; n (%) 21 (23%) 8 (20%) 13 (26%) 0.6
Diabetes mellitus 0.4
No diabetes; n (%) 83 (91%) 38 (95%) 45 (88%) -
Uncomplicated diabetes; n (%) 6 (6.6%) 1 (2.5%) 5 (9.8%) -
Complicated diabetes; n (%) 2 (2.2%) 1 (2.5%) 1 (2%) -
Hypertension; n (%) 34 (39%) 11 (29%) 23 (46%) 0.2
Charlson Comorbidity Index; median [IQR] 3 [1–4] 2 [1–3] 3 [2–4] 0.054
Median eGFR (ml/min/1.73m2); median [IQR] 129 [109–171] 130 [112–168] 129 [100–174] 0.5
Initial medical condition 0.037
Intracranial bleeding; n (%) 51 (57%) 19 (48%) 32 (64%) -
Tumoral; n (%) 21 (23%) 8 (20%) 13 (26%) -
Rachidian surgery; n (%) 7 (7.8%) 6 (15%) 1 (2%) -
Parkinson’s disease; n (%) 3 (3.3%) 3 (7.5%) 0 (0%) -
Others; n (%) 8 (8.9%) 4 (10%) 4 (8%) -
Hospitalized in Intensive Care Unit (ICU); n (%) 54 (59.3%) 21 (52.5%) 33 (64.7%) 0.024
Initial infection 0.0444
Meningitis; n (%) 71 (78%) 31 (78%) 40 (78%) -
Empyema and/or brain abscess; n (%) 16 (18%) 5 (13%) 11 (22%) -
DBS infection; n (%) 4 (4.4%) 4 (10%) 0 (0%) -
Hemodynamic failure; n (%) 2 (2.2%) 1 (2.5%) 1 (2.0%) > 0.9
Staphylococcus spp. involved; n (%) 0.6
S. aureus; n (%) 30 (33%) 13 (32%) 17 (33%) -
S. epidermidis; n (%) 52 (57%) 21 (52%) 31 (61%) -
S. capitis; n (%) 4 (4.4%) 3 (7.5%) 1 (2%) -
S. haemolyticus; n (%) 3 (3.3%) 2 (5%) 1 (2%) -
S. hominis; n (%) 2 (2.2%) 1 (2.5%) 1 (2%) -
Polymicrobial infection; n (%) 16 (18%) 11 (28%) 5 (10%) 0.06
Methicillin-resistant; n (%) 42 (46%) 17 (43%) 25 (49%) 0.7
Vancomycin MIC (mg/L); median [IQR] 1 [1–1] 1 [1–1] 1 [1–1] 0.9
Linezolid MIC (mg/L); median [IQR] 1 [1–2] 1 [1–2] 1 [1–2] 0.5
Median time between surgery of initial medical condition and infection; median [IQR] 18 [11–45] 20 [11–71] 15 [10–33] 0.3
Bloodstream infection associated; n (%) 18 (22%) 9 (26%) 9 (20%) 0.7
Implant or devices associated infection; n (%) 68 (75%) 30 (75%) 38 (75%) > 0.9
Median CSF cell count (cell/mm3); median [IQR] 165 [20-1800] 68 [7-1440] 735 [51-2987] 0.12
Linezolid or vancomycin treatment duration (days); median [IQR] 7 [4–13] 7 [4–14] 7 [4–11] 0.4
Overall antimicrobial treatment duration (days); median [IQR] 21 [14–42] 21 [14–42] 20 [14–42] 0.7
Associated treatment; n (%)
No combination; n (%) 43 (47%) 19 (48%) 24 (47%) > 0.9
Piperacilline/tazobactam; n (%) 2 (2.2%) 1 (2.5%) 1 (2%) -
3rd -generation cephralosporins; n (%) 12 (13%) 6 (15%) 6 (12%) -
Cefepim; n (%) 8 (8.8%) 4 (10%) 4 (7.8%) -
Carbapenem; n (%) 26 (29%) 10 (25%) 16 (31%) -
Surgical intervention; n (%) 77 (85%) 32 (80%) 45 (88%) 0.4
Implant/devices removal during surgery; n (%) 63 (80%) 25 (71%) 38 (86%) 0.2

Variables are expressed as percentages for dichotomous variables and as medians with interquartile range for continuous variables. In percentage calculation, the number of missing values was excluded from the denominator. Nonparametric tests were used to compare groups (chi-square, Fisher exact and Mann-Whitney U tests), as appropriate. eGFR: estimate glomerular function; DBS: Deep brain stimulator; MIC: minimal inhibitory concentration; CSF: cerebrospinal fluid