Table 1.
Basic patient characteristics and blood stream infections (BSI).
| Item | Group 1 (heparin) |
Group 2 (TauroLock™) |
P value |
| No. of patients | 90 | 89 | - |
| Male (proportion in %) | 51 (57) | 60 (67) | 0.16 |
| Female (proportion in %) | 39 (43) | 29 (33) | |
| Age (years): median | 10.4 | 7.2 | 0.52 |
| IQRΔ | 5.2 to 14.7 | 3.7 to 16.1 | |
| Range | 0.2 to 35.2 | 0.0 to 35.4 | |
| CVAD utilization days | |||
| Cumulative No. | 6,086 | 6,705 | # |
| Port | 3,672 | 3,989 | |
| Broviac | 2,414 | 2,716 | |
| Malignancy No. (%) | 0.09 | ||
| ALL | 21 (23) | 26 (29) | |
| AML | 3 (3) | 6 (7) | |
| NHL and HD | 15 (17) | 7 (8) | |
| Solid tumor | 30 (33) | 22 (25) | |
| ZNS | 18 (20) | 27 (30) | |
| MAS | 2 (2) | 0 (0) | |
| MDS | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | |
| LCH | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | |
| Malignancy in relapse No. (%) | 16 (18) | 13 (15) | 0.69 |
| No of patients with | 0.41 | ||
| Port (proportion in %) | 68 (76) | 62 (70) | |
| Broviac (proportion in %) | 22 (24) | 27 (30) | |
| CVAD removal due to infection: No. (%) | 4 (4.4) | 3 (3.4)Ω | 1.00 |
Group 1 = heparin (2003–2005) vs. group 2 = TauroLock™ (2005–2007)
MAS Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, MDS myelodysplastic syndrome,
LCH Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis.
* CoNS = Coagulase-negative staphylococci.
Δ IQR = Interquartile range, 25–75. Percentile
# Utilization days per individual patient were not available; thus, P-values could not be calculated.
Ω None of these due to Gram positive infections caused by CoNS or MRSE