Prospective study of the value of quantitative culture of organisms from blood collected through central venous catheters in differentiating between contamination and bloodstream infection.
Collection of blood through a central venous catheter for the diagnosis of bacteremia is a debated topic. Quantitative cultures of organisms from blood collected through central venous catheters were found to be highly sensitive, specific, and predictive of bacteremia, especially when a cutoff point of 15 colonies of skin organisms was used.
Chatzinikolaou
Ioannis
I
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Hanna
Hend
H
Darouiche
Rabih
R
Samonis
George
G
Tarrand
Jeffrey
J
Raad
Issam
I