The relationship between CONUT score and length of hospital stay in patients with Infective endocarditis

Objective: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a cardiac infection associated with high morbidity and mortality, serious complications, and a growing public health problem. Hospital stays are often prolonged, especially due to the long-term use of antimicrobial agents during treatment (4-6 weeks) and the need for surgical intervention during patient follow-up. CONUT score is a scoring method that can be calculated easily and quickly and consists of 3 parameters (albumin, lymphocyte, total cholesterol) to predict mortality and prognosis. The aim of the study was to retrospectively evaluate the relationship between CONUT score and length of hospital stay in patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of IE. Method: One hundred and seventy-seven patients diagnosed with IE were retrospectively screened and consecutively included. The patients were divided into two groups as those with mild malnutrition (Group 1: CONUT score 0-4) and those with moderate-to-severe malnutrition (Group 2: CONUT score 5-12). The CONUT score was calculated with the following formula: total cholesterol score + lymphocyte score + albumin score. The relationship between duration of hospital stay and CONUT score was analyzed using Pearson correlation test. Results: In our study, 177 patients with IE were divided into group 1 (mean age 56.6 ± 15.1 years, 63% male) and group 2 (mean age 52.9 ± 15.3 years, 51% male). Albumin values of patients in Group 2 were statistically significantly lower (Group 1: 3.25 ± 0.72 g/L and Group 2: 2.79 ± 0.69 g/L, p <0.001). Total cholesterol levels were statistically significantly lower in Group 2 (Group 1: 174 ± 44 mg/dL and Group 2: 150 ± 43 mg/dL, p <0.001). CONUT score was significantly higher in favor of Group 2 (Group 1: 2.39 ± 1.26 and Group 2: 7 ± 1.93, p <0.001). A moderate, positive and significant correlation was found between the length of stay and the CONUT score of patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of IE (r (177) = 0.639, p < 0.001). Conclusion: In patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of IE, the high CONUT score, which can be easily calculated, is positively correlated with the length of hospital stay. Using the CONUT score, which can be easily calculated in patients with IE before hospitalization, may facilitate the development of new strategies.