Table 4.
Comparison of characteristics of patients with Clostridium perfringens and those with non-perfringens clostridium bacteraemia
| Characteristics of blood culture isolate | Number of patients (%) | p Value | |
| Clostridium perfringens (n = 30) | Other clostridium species (n = 8) | ||
| Sex | NS | ||
| Male | 18 (60) | 5 (63) | |
| Female | 12 (40) | 3 (38) | |
| Mean age (SD) | 70 (20.8) | 41 (33.2) | <0.05 |
| Underlying diseases* | |||
| Gastrointestinal tract disease | 8 (27) | 3 (38) | NS |
| Hepatobiliary tract disease | 9 (30) | 2 (25) | NS |
| Malignancy | 7 (23) | 4 (50) | NS |
| Hypertension | 10 (33) | 1 (13) | NS |
| Diabetes mellitus | 6 (20) | 1 (13) | NS |
| Cerebrovascular accident | 5 (17) | 1 (13) | NS |
| Immobilisation and/or bed sore | 3 (10) | 1 (13) | NS |
| Chronic renal failure | 3 (10) | 0 (0) | NS |
| Diagnosis | |||
| Primary bacteraemia | 8 (27) | 5 (63) | NS |
| Cholecystitis/cholangitis | 12 (40) | 0 (0) | <0.05 |
| Other intra-abdominal infection | 5 (17) | 2 (25) | NS |
| Infected gangrene of extremities | 3 (10) | 0 (0) | NS |
| Infected bed sore | 1 (3) | 1 (13) | NS |
| Pneumonia | 1 (3) | 0 (0) | NS |
| Community/hospital acquired | |||
| Community | 27 (90) | 3 (38) | |
| Hospital | 3 (10) | 5 (63) | <0.005 |
| Number of positive blood cultures | |||
| 1 | 27 (90) | 7 (88) | NS |
| 2 | 3 (10) | 1 (13) | |
| Mono/polymicrobial bacteraemia | |||
| Monomicrobial | 15 (50) | 4 (50) | NS |
| Polymicrobial | 15 (50) | 4 (50) | NS |
| Mortality | 8 (26) | 3 (38) | NS |
*The percentages add up to more than 100% because some patients had more than one underlying disease.
NS, not significant.