title: Incidence of catheter-related infections in hospitalized cardiovascular patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Catheter Related Blood stream Infections (CRBSI) are prevalent and a potentially fatal complication pertaining to cardiovascular implant devices. There have been no major studies on bacterial colonization of catheters in cardiovascular patients in Iran.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the incidence of catheter colonization of bacteria in the largest Iranian cardiovascular center.
  
  
  METHODS
  March 2011 to 2012, Cauterization procedures performed on 60 patients hospitalized in Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Tehran, Iran, with arterial or venous catheterization, inserted 48 hours or more, catheter evaluations done by culture methods. Blood cultures were also obtained simultaneously.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-four out of 60 catheters (73.3%) were positive with a significant colony count. Of 44 positive cases, 11 patients had positive blood culture. Three most frequently isolated microorganisms were Staph Albus [14 (32%)], Entrococcu [12 (27%)] and Acinetobacter [5 (11%)]. gram-positive cocci were sensitive to Vancomycin and Linezolid and gram-negative bacilli were sensitive to Amikacin, Gentamicin, Tobramycin and Imipenem.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study findings revealed that the catheter infection in our patients had sources other than normal skin flora. These results will assist in determining the possible source of the infections, furthermore, how they are transmitted, moreover aid in controlling and preventing these dangerous in- infections.
authors.affiliation: Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Kambiz
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mozaffari
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Intervention Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hooman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bakhshandeh
authors.affiliation: Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khalaj
authors.affiliation: Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hengameh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Soudi
keywords: Bacteremia; Cardiovascular Diseases; Catheter-Related Infections; Hospitalization; Iran