Volume 17, Number 9—September 2011
Research
Central Venous Catheter–associated Nocardia Bacteremia in Cancer Patients
Fadi Al Akhrass, Ray Hachem, Jamal A. Mohamed, Jeffrey Tarrand, Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis, Jyotsna Chandra, Mahmoud Ghannoum, Souha Haydoura, Ann Marie Chaftari, and Issam Raad
Table 2
Diagnostic and microbiologic profile for 10 cases of Nocardia CLABSI, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, January 1998–March 2010*
| CLABSI case no. | Diagnostic criteria | CRBSI |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Differential quantitative blood culture (CVC >1,000 CFU/mL; peri = 3 CFU/mL) and quantitative catheter tip culture (103 CFU/tip) | Definite |
| 2 | Positive peripheral blood culture with positive semi-quantitative catheter tip culture (>15 CFU/tip) | Definite |
| 3 | Differential quantitative blood culture (CVC >1,000 CFUs/mL; peri = 1 CFU/mL) | Definite |
| 4 | CVC blood culture positive with positive semiquantitative catheter tip culture (>15 CFU/tip) | Definite |
| 5 | Differential quantitative blood culture (CVC >1,000 CFU/mL; peri = 1 CFU/mL) | Definite |
| 6 | Positive peripheral and CVC blood cultures with positive quantitative catheter tip culture (4,000 CFU/tip) | Definite |
| 7 | Differential quantitative blood culture (CVC >1,000 CFU/mL; peri = 20 CFUs/mL) and positive quantitative catheter tip culture (4,000 CFU/tip) | Definite |
| 8 | Positive peripheral and CVC blood culture but negative catheter tip culture | Probable |
| 9 | Positive peripheral and CVC blood culture but negative catheter tip culture | Probable |
| 10 | Positive CVC and peripheral blood culture but negative catheter tip culture | Probable |
*CLABSI, central line–associated bloodstream infection; CRBSI, catheter-related bloodstream infection, defined according to Infectious Disease Society of America guidelines (10); CVC, central venous catheter; peri, peripheral. CVC values indicate blood for culture collected from CVC; peri values indicate blood for culture collected from peripheral vessel.
