Use of cultivation-dependent and -independent techniques to assess contamination of central venous catheters: a pilot study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Catheters are the most common cause of nosocomial infections and are associated with increased risk of mortality, length of hospital stay and cost. Prevention of infections and fast and correct diagnosis is highly important.

Methods

In this study traditional semiquantitative culture-dependent methods for diagnosis of bacteria involved in central venous catheter-related infections as described by Maki were compared with the following culture-independent molecular biological methods: Clone libraries, denaturant gradient gel electrophoresis, phylogeny and fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Results

In accordance with previous studies, the cultivation of central venous catheters from 18 patients revealed that S. epidermidis and other coagulase-negative staphylo

SUBMITTER: Larsen MK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2605442 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature