title: Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of isolated microorganisms from central venous catheters in ICU patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The abundance of infections associated with intensive care unit (ICU) is increasing due to the increased use of aggressive medical equipments like the central venous catheter (CVC). This study was designed and performed in 2010-2011 at Alzahra hospital, which is a referral center. This study aimed at determining the relative abundance and microbial sensitivity of organisms, which were creating contamination with CVCs in hospitalized patients in the ICUs of Alzahra hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional study performed on 71 patients who were hospitalized in the Alzahra hospital ICU and had CVCs during 2010-2011. The data obtained was analyzed by SPSS version 20 software and descriptive statistical approaches and chi-square and t-test trials.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the sample culture obtained from the patients' catheter in 19 cases (26/8%), no microorganism was grown and in 52 cases (73.3%) at least one type of microorganism including bacteria or fungus was grown. In this study, average hospitalization time in patients who got positive results from their catheter culture was significantly more compared with patients who did not grow any kinds of microorganism in their sample cultures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, CVCs microbial contamination has a high prevalence, which is a major cause of prolonged patients staying in ICUs, and therefore, it is essential to take precaution and discharge the patient early for decreasing the catheter contamination and preventing the hospital infections incidence in the ICU patients.
authors.affiliation: Nosocomial Infection Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Khorvash
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meidani
authors.affiliation: Medical Student, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehrnoosh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shakeri
keywords: Catheter-related infections; central venous catheterization; hospital infection; microbial sensitivity test