1. Definitions of CVC‐related infections.

Study	Definitions of CVC related infections
Atkinson 1998	Blood cultures drawn from the line positive for infection in the absence of any other source of infection including tunnel infections.
Dannenberg 2003	1)   Bacteraemia: positive blood culture from the catheter and fever or a rise of infectious laboratory findings. 2)   Sepsis: positive blood culture from the catheter and a least five of the following eight symptoms; fever/hypothermia, chills, tachycardia/bradycardia, tachypnoea, hypotonia, prolonged capillary refill time, oliguria, or altered mental status.
La Quaglia 1994	CVC‐related sepsis was defined by quantitative cultures, i.e. 1) negative peripheral blood cultures, with simultaneous 1000 or more CFUs cultured from the CVC; or 2) CFUs from the catheter exceeded those from the peripheral blood by a factor of 10 or more.

CVC: central venous catheter; CFU: colony‐forming units