Costs of False-Positive Cultures from Central Catheters
Authors: Todd Barton, Mari Mizuta, Neil Fishman
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2004)

Letters20 July 2004Costs of False-Positive Cultures from Central CathetersTodd Barton, MD, Mari Mizuta, MD, and Neil Fishman, MDTodd Barton, MDFrom Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.Search for more papers by this author, Mari Mizuta, MDFrom Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.Search for more papers by this author, and Neil Fishman, MDFrom Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-141-2-200407200-00021 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We commend Raad and colleagues for their excellent research using differential time to positivity to diagnose catheter-related bacteremia (1). Although the test seems to have excellent sensitivity and specificity, the authors do not discuss the consequences of the sample collection strategy required to measure differential time to positivity.In Raad and colleagues' study, 216 (3.5%) of the 6138 total paired specimens were positive on both the central and peripheral blood cultures, thus allowing differential time to positivity to be measured. However, drawing 1 central and 1 peripheral culture also resulted in 603 (9.8%) paired samples in which ...References1. Raad I, Hanna HA, Alakech B, Chatzinikolaou I, Johnson MM, Tarrand J. Differential time to positivity: a useful method for diagnosing catheter-related bloodstream infections. Ann Intern Med. 2004;140:18-25. [PMID: 14706968] LinkGoogle Scholar2. DesJardin JA, Falagas ME, Ruthazer R, Griffith J, Wawrose D, Schenkein D, et al . Clinical utility of blood cultures drawn from indwelling central venous catheters in hospitalized patients with cancer. Ann Intern Med. 1999;131:641-7. [PMID: 10577325] LinkGoogle Scholar3. Bates DW, Goldman L, Lee TH. Contaminant blood cultures and resource utilization. The true consequences of false-positive results. JAMA. 1991;265:365-9. [PMID: 1984535] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Souvenir D, Anderson DE Jr Palpant S, Mroch H, Askin S, Anderson J, et al . Blood cultures positive for coagulase-negative staphylococci: antisepsis, pseudobacteremia, and therapy of patients. J Clin Microbiol. 1998;36:1923-6. [PMID: 9650937] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Mermel LA, Farr BM, Sherertz RJ, Raad , O'Grady N, Harris JS, et al . Guidelines for the management of intravascular catheter-related infections. Clin Infect Dis. 2001;32:1249-72. [PMID: 11303260] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Todd Barton, MD; Mari Mizuta, MD; Neil Fishman, MDAffiliations: From Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoClinical Utility of Blood Cultures Drawn from Indwelling Central Venous Catheters in Hospitalized Patients with Cancer Jeffrey A. DesJardin , Matthew E. Falagas , Robin Ruthazer , John Griffith , Dorothy Wawrose , David Schenkein , Kenneth Miller , and David R. Snydman Differential Time to Positivity: A Useful Method for Diagnosing Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections Issam Raad , Hend A. Hanna , Badie Alakech , Ioannis Chatzinikolaou , Marcella M. Johnson , and Jeffrey Tarrand Metrics Cited byBloodstream infections in neutropenic patients: early detection of pathogens and directed antimicrobial therapy due to surveillance blood cultures 20 July 2004Volume 141, Issue 2Page: 162KeywordsAntibioticsBacteremiaBloodCathetersFeversInfectious diseasesPhlebotomySpecificity ePublished: 20 July 2004 Issue Published: 20 July 2004 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2004 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...