This study had 2 objectives: (1) to describe the epidemiology of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who have no access to scheduled dialysis and (2) to evaluate whether a positive culture of the heparin-lock solution is associated with subsequent development of bacteremia.

Retrospective observational cohort design for objective 1; and prospective cohort design for objective 2.

The study was conducted in a 770-bed public academic tertiary hospital in Dallas, Texas. The participants were patients with ESRD undergoing scheduled or emergent hemodialysis.

We reviewed the records of 147 patients who received hemodialysis between January 2011 and May 2011 and evaluated the rate of CRBSI in the previous 5 years. For the prospective study, we cultured the catheter heparin-lock solution in 62 consecutive patients between June 2012 and August 2012 and evaluated the incidence of CRBSI at 6 months.

Of the 147 patients on emergent hemodialysis, 125 had a tunneled catheter, with a CRBSI rate of 2.61 per 1,000 catheter days. The predominant organisms were Gram-negative rods (GNR). In the prospective study, we found that the dialysis catheter was colonized more frequently in patients on emergent hemodialysis than in those on scheduled hemodialysis. Colonization with GNR or Staphylococcus aureus was associated with subsequent CRBSI at 6 months follow-up.

Patients undergoing emergent hemodialysis via tunneled catheter are predisposed to Gram-negative CRBSI. Culturing the heparin-lock solution may predict subsequent episodes of CRBSI if it shows colonization with GNR or Staphylococcus aureus. Prevention approaches in this population need to be studied further.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2016;37(3):301–305

To examine the relative proportions of central line-associated bloodstream infection (BSI) due to gram-negative bacteria and due to gram-positive bacteria among patients who had undergone surgery and patients who had not. The study also evaluated clinical predictive factors and unadjusted outcomes associated with central line-associated BSI caused by gram-negative bacteria in the postoperative period.

Observational, case-control study based on a retrospective review of medical records.

University of Chicago Medical Center, a 500-bed tertiary care center located on Chicago's south side.

Adult intensive care unit (ICU) patients who developed central line-associated BSI.

There were a total of 142 adult patients who met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System definition for central line-associated BSI. Of those, 66 patients (46.5%) had infections due to gram-positive bacteria, 49 patients (34.5%) had infections due to gram-negative bacteria, 23 patients (16.2%) had infections due to yeast, and 4 patients (2.8%) had mixed infections. Patients who underwent surgery were more likely to develop central line-associated BSI due to gram-negative bacteria within 28 days of the surgery, compared with patients who had not had surgery recently (57.6% vs 27.3%; P = .002). On multivariable logistic regression analysis, diabetes mellitus (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 4.6 [95% CI, 1.2-18.1]; P = .03) and the presence of hypotension at the time of the first blood culture positive for a pathogen (adjusted OR, 9.8 [95% CI, 2.5-39.1]; P = .001 ) were found to be independently predictive of central line-associated BSI caused by gram-negative bacteria. Unadjusted outcomes were not different in the group with BSI due to gram-negative pathogens, compared to the group with BSI due to gram-positive pathogens.

Clinicians caring for critically ill patients after surgery should be especially concerned about the possibility of central line-associated BSI caused by gram-negative pathogens. The presence of diabetes and hypotension appear to be significant associated factors.