title: An instant procedure to demonstrate catheter-tip colonization may help clinicians.
abstract: This study compared the acridine orange and Gram stains of an external smear of intravascular catheter-tip segments with the culture results obtained 24 to 48 h later. Both staining techniques were randomly assigned to be performed either before (group A) or after (group B) rolling on the agar plate. Of the 425 catheter tips processed, 25.7% were significantly colonized and 6.1% were from patients with catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs). The yield of group A was superior to that of group B for the prediction of colonization (sensitivity, 94.3%/69.6%; specificity, 92.4%/96.2%; positive predictive value (PPV), 80.6%/86.7%; negative predictive value (NPV), 98.0%/90.0%; and full concordance, 91.9%/89.3%). The values for the prediction of CRBSIs were as follows for group A and group B: sensitivity, 100%/69.2%; specificity, 96.3%/100%; PPV, 86.7%/100.0%; NPV, 100%/93.9%; and full concordance, 97.0%/94.7%. Catheter-tip staining before culture is an easy-to-perform, cheap, and effective procedure to anticipate catheter colonization and rule out CRBSIs.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Service, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, 28007 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bouza
authors.forename: Neisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alvarado
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alcalá
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Pablo Martín
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Rabadán
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Créixems
mesh_terms: D000165:Acridine Orange; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000382:microbiology*; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D005840:Gentian Violet; D006801:Humans; D010619:Phenazines; D011897:Random Allocation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: C035863:Gram's stain; D010619:Phenazines; D000165:Acridine Orange; D005840:Gentian Violet