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Infectious Complications of Central Venous Catheters Increase the Risk of Catheter-Related Thrombosis in Hematology Patients: A Prospective Study

From the Departments of General Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Hematology and Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, the Netherlands

Address reprint requests to Menno V. Huisman, MD, Department of General Internal Medicine, Room C1 R-43, Leiden University Medical Center, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands; e-mail: M.V.Huisman{at}LUMC.nl

PURPOSE: We studied whether the risk of central venous catheter (CVC) -related thrombosis increased after an episode of CVC-related infection in patients undergoing intensive chemotherapy. Secondly, we determined whether thrombosis can be predicted or excluded by CVC lock fluid surveillance cultures.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a prospective setting, 105 consecutive patients were carefully examined for CVC-related infection and thrombosis. In all patients, microbial surveillance cultures of CVC lock fluid were taken every other day. All patients with clinical suspicion of CVC-related thrombosis underwent Doppler ultrasound or additional venography.

RESULTS: The cumulative incidence of CVC-related infection was 24% (25 of 105 patients). Clinically manifest thrombosis occurred in 13 (12%) of 105 patients. In patients with CVC-related infection, the risk of thrombosis increased markedly in comparison to those without infection (relative risk, 17.6; 95% CI, 4.1 to 74.1). In patients having two or more positive subsequent CVC lock fluid cultures with identical micro-organisms, 71.4% developed thrombosis, as compared with 3.3% in patients with negative or a single positive culture.

CONCLUSION: The risk of clinically manifest thrombosis is increased after an episode of CVC-related infection in patients undergoing intensive chemotherapy. Surveillance culturing of CVC lock fluid may be clinically useful in estimating the risk for thrombosis and the instigation of focused early intervention.

Supported by the Netherlands Heart Foundation (grant 99.146).

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest are found at the end of this article.

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