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. 1994 Jun;32(6):1578–1579. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.6.1578-1579.1994

Usefulness of gram staining of blood collected from total parenteral nutrition catheter for rapid diagnosis of catheter-related sepsis.

F Moonens 1, S el Alami 1, A Van Gossum 1, M J Struelens 1, E Serruys 1
PMCID: PMC264041  PMID: 7521359

Abstract

The accuracy of Gram staining of blood drawn from catheters used to administer total parenteral nutrition was compared with paired quantitative blood cultures for the diagnosis of catheter-related sepsis. Gram staining was positive in 11 of 18 episodes of catheter-related sepsis documented by quantitative culture (sensitivity, 61%) but in none of the 5 episodes of fever unrelated to catheter infection. Thus, this procedure enabled the rapid presumptive diagnosis and guidance of antimicrobial therapy for total parenteral nutrition catheter sepsis, with a positive predictive value of 100% and a negative predictive value of 42%.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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