StenoSCORE: Predicting Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Bloodstream Infections in the Hematologic Malignancy Population

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bloodstream infections (BSI) are associated with considerable mortality in the hematologic malignancy population. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) is the treatment of choice; however, it is not routinely included in empirical treatment regimens, both because of its adverse event profile and the relative rarity of S. maltophilia infections. We developed a risk score to predict hematologic malignancy patients at increased risk for S. maltophilia BSI to guide early (TMP-SMX) therapy. Patients >= 12 years of age admitted to five hospitals between July 2016 and December 2019 were included. Two separate risk scores were developed, (i) a "knowledge-driven" risk score based upon previously identified risk factors in the literature in addition to variables identified by regression analysis using the current cohort, and (ii) a risk score based upon automatic variable selection. For both scores, discrimination (receiver operator characteristic [ROC] curves and C statistics) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test and graphical calibration plots) were assessed. Internal validation was assessed using leave-one-out cross-validation. In total, 337 unique patients were included; 21 (6.2%) had S. maltophilia BSI. The knowledge-driven risk score (acute leukemia, absolute neutrophil count category, mucositis, central line, and >= 3 days of carbapenem therapy) had superior performance (C statistic = 0.75; 0.71 after cross-validation) compared to that of the risk score utilizing automatic variable selection (C statistic = 0.63; 0.38 after cross-validation). A user-friendly risk score incorporating five variables easily accessible to clinicians performed moderately well to predict hematologic malignancy patients at increased risk for S. maltophilia BSI. External validation using a larger cohort is necessary to create a refined risk score before broad clinical application.