Tunneled catheters' outcome optimization among diabetics on dialysis through antibiotic-lock placement.

Efficacy and safety of antibiotic 'locks', in prevention of thrombotic and infectious complication-related morbidity and mortality, among diabetics dialyzed through tunneled-cuffed catheters (TCCs) has not been effectively investigated. This trial was designed to investigate the outcome of TCCs (n = 109), inserted among 96 diabetic end-stage renal disease patients (March 2002-February 2003), by comparing the catheter thrombosis, catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI), catheter survival, and mortality rates, between the cohorts of 49 patients who had TCCs (n = 51) 'locked' with cefotaxime/heparin (group I) and 47 patients with TCCs (n = 58) filled with standard heparin (group II). Thrombosis was defined as the inability to use catheter at a blood flow of 200 ml/min despite intraluminal thrombolysis. Primary end points were catheter thrombosis and CRBSI; elective catheter removal and CRBSI-related death led to sensor of TCCs follow-up. Patients with intraluminal cefotaxime/heparin lock, on cumulative survival analysis, showed a superior thrombosis-free (86.3 vs 63.8%, P = 0.023, log rank), infection-free (72.9 vs 27.1%, P = 0.004, log rank), and thrombosis- and infection-free TCC survival (78.4 vs 37.9%, P = 0.001, log rank) at 365 days, besides having significantly lower incidence of CRBSI (1.56 vs 3.68 episodes/1000 catheter days, P < 0.0001) and CRBSI-related mortality (9.8 vs 23.4%, P = 0.015), compared with the heparin-alone group. Deployment of cefotaxime-heparin 'lock' enhances catheter survival; reduces thrombotic and infectious complications and ensuing mortality, among diabetics on dialysis. However, further studies are needed to define the long-term implications of antibiotic locks in terms of the risk of emergence of antimicrobial resistance.

Impact of dedicated space, dialysis equipment, and nursing staff on the transmission of hepatitis C virus in a hemodialysis unit of the middle east.

BACKGROUND: Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is endemic in hemodialysis (HD) units, especially in Middle Eastern countries. The meticulous isolation policy recommended for patients with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in an HD unit resulted in a significant drop in HBV incidence globally. This study was developed to prospectively investigate the impact of an identical isolation policy on incidence of nosocomial HCV infection in this HD unit of the Middle East. METHODS: In phase I of the study, we retrospectively reviewed the records of 189 patients with a mean age of 47.5 +/- 11.4 years (range, 15-85 years) who were receiving maintenance HD from December 7, 1995, to December 6, 2000, for the mean duration of 73 +/- 6.3 months (range, 3-144 months) to record the prevalence of HCV. Factors such as blood transfusions and dialytic age (time span that patient has received dialysis since its initiation) implicated in transmission of HCV in the HD unit also were recorded. Phase II involved stringent isolation of anti-HCV positive patients detected during phase I through provision of dedicated space, dialysis equipment, and nursing staff from December 7, 2000, to December 6, 2001. Liver function and anti-HCV tests were repeated for all the 198 patients every 6 months to identify new HCV seroconversions. RESULTS: An HCV prevalence rate of 43.9% (83/189) and an annual HCV seroconversion rate of 6.8% were identified in this cohort. No significant association with blood tranfusion was observed. Eighty-three anti-HCV positive (43.9%) patients had a mean dialytic age of 48.5 +/- 14.2 months compared with 25.0 +/- 8.6 months among 106 (56.1%) anti-HCV negative patients (relative risk [RR], 1.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39-5.86; P <.001). Only 2 new HCV seroconversions (1.01% [2/198]) were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Evidently, the sharing of facilities in a high-risk HD environment for a prolonged dialytic age facilitates the nosocomial transmission of HCV infection. A significant decline of annual seroconversion rate from 6.8% to 1.01% (odds ratio [OR], 7.535; 95% CI, 1.598-48.89; P <.005) suggests that a comprehensive, strictly enforced isolation policy for HCV-positive patients may play a significant role in limiting HCV transmission in HD units, just as it has in drastically reducing HBV transmission in these settings.

The impact of nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus a ureus (MRSA & MSSA) on vascular access-related septicemia among patients with type-II diabetes on dialysis.

BACKGROUND: Fairly higher nasal carriage rates among type-II diabetics place them at a greater risk of endogenous Staphylococcus aureus linked vascular access-related septicemia (VRS) that is also dependent on the type of vascular access used for hemodialysis (HD). The prevalence of nasal carriage of methicillin susceptible and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MSSA and MRSA) and its impact on VRS was determined in order to identify most vulnerable group and plan potential prophylactic strategies, accordingly. METHODS: Five standardized nasal swab cultures were performed in 208 patients enrolled for long-term HD through July 1996 to July 1999. Persistent nasal carriage was defined by two or more positive cultures for MSSA or MRSA. Peripheral blood cultures were collected on clinical suspicion of septicemia. RESULTS: The prevalence of type-II diabetes of 28.0% with 72.4% of nasal carriage rate and three folds higher S. aureus related VRS (RR-3.19, p<0.0001) than diabetic non-carriers on HD, was observed. Type-II diabetics also had higher MSSA and MRSA nasal carriage rates (53.4% and 19.0%) than non-diabetic nasal carriers (18.6 and 6.0%) yet, carried a comparable (RR-4.0 vs. 4.5) risk of VRS between MSSA and MRSA nasal carriers. Among diabetic type-II S. aureus nasal carriers, central venous catheters (CVCs) carried 35 and 38 times higher collective risk of developing MSSA and MRSA nasal carriage-related VRS respectively than Arterio-venous fistula (AVF). The AVF recorded the lowest risk of developing MSSA and MRSA nasal carriage-related VRS (0.013 and 0.010 episodes/patient-year) in both diabetic type-II MSSA and MRSA nasal carrier groups. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic type-II S. aureus nasal carriers on HD through CVCs make an extremely high-risk group for MSSA and MRSA nasal carriage-related VRS. The incidence of S. aureus nasal carriage-related VRS could reasonably be reduced through a challenging obligation of optimizing AVF prevalence in this high-risk group, while limiting the use of CVCs, at the same time.

Outcome of dialysis access-related septicemia among diabetics following optimized AV-fistula placement.

BACKGROUND: AV fistula (AVF) is the safest of vascular accesses with lowest infection rates; yet only 23% patients used AVF during 1997 in USA. The lower prevalence of AVF among diabetics on hemodialysis (HD) places them at a higher risk of vascular-access-related septicemia (VRS) and ensuing mortality. In this study we assessed the outcome of VRS after maximizing the frequency of native AVF in this largest growing population on HD. METHODS: Study included 218 patients, 63 diabetics and 155 nondiabetics on HD, through July 1996 to July 2000 when National Kidney Foundation-Dialysis Outcome and Quality Initiative (NKF-DOQI) set goal was accomplished with overall 72% of functioning AVF (57.2% diabetics and 78.1% nondiabetics) through joint efforts of nephrologists and vascular surgeons. RESULTS: Overall, 10.6% patients per year developed VRS through 125 episodes, over 10,464 patient-months, recording 1.19 episodes per 100 patient-months. In the diabetic group, 13.87% patients per year had VRS during 44 episodes with 1.45 episodes per 100 patient-months while 1.08 episodes per 100 patient-months were recorded in nondiabetics with 9.35% per year having VRS during 81 episodes. Collectively, catheters recorded 1.5 folds higher VRS episodes in diabetic than in nondiabetic group. Mortality of 9.28% per year in diabetic group as compared to that of 6.45% per year in nondiabetic group [RR-1.436, 95% CI (0.778-2.651)] was observed, while overall mortality of 7.5% per year recorded is a good deal lower than 12-22% reported. CONCLUSION: The NKF-DOQI set aim of dialyzing over 50% patients through AVF is attainable in diabetics as well. Optimizing AVF is a viable approach to lessen VRS related mortality in diabetics on HD. Our continued dependence on vascular catheters is largely responsible for higher mortality in diabetics than nondiabetics on HD due to lack of cagily established pre-ESRD program for diabetics.

The role the type of vascular access plays in the transmission of hepatitis C virus in a high prevalence hemodialysis unit.

BACKGROUND: The necessity of having a vascular access site as well as extracorporeal blood circulation, may add to the risk for patients being dialyzed in units with high HCV prevalence of acquiring hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This study endeavors to determine the role the type of vascular access plays in the transmission of HCV infection in the hemodialysis (HD) unit of a Middle Eastern country. METHODS: The records of 198 patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) enrolled on maintenance HD from November 1995 to November 2000 at this tertiary care center, were retrospectively reviewed to match the HCV prevalence and seroconversion rates among patients groups being dialyzed through various types of vascular accesses. Factors such as, number of units of blood transfused and dialytic age (time-span since the initiation of the HD treatment), implicated in transmission of HCV infection in HD units, were also recorded, and compared among these cohorts. RESULTS: The overall, high HCV seroprevalence of 43.4% (86/198) and annual seroconversion rate of 8.6% per year were recorded. Patients with arteriovenous fistula (AVF) documented peak anti-HCV prevalence [61.7% (63/102)] and annual seroconversion rates (12.3%) as compared to lowest prevalence of 12.9% (4/34) and seroconversion rate of 2.5%, observed among patients with permanent Catheters (PC). Patients dialyzed through polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) grafts recorded the next highest HCV prevalence of 47.8% (11/23) with seroconversion rate of 9.5% but temporary catheter (TC) group had HCV prevalence of 19% (8/42) and seroconversion rate of 3.8% [Odd Ratio (OR)-1.58, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) (0.37-7.12), p-NS]. CONCLUSIONS: Considerably higher annual seroconversion rates in AVF [OR-10.90, 95% CI (3.2-40.0), p<0.0001] and PTFE [OR-5.71, 95% CI (1.31-26.79), p<0.016)] groups, appear to suggest that the patients being dialyzed through AVF and PTFE, carried significantly higher risk of acquisition of HCV infection compared to those dialyzed through TC and PC (reference group). This could possibly be attributed to likely accessibility of HCV to blood circulation due to possible breakdown of standard infection control precautions during repeated punctures and cannulations of AVF and PTFE to perform a HD, in a unit with high baseline HCV prevalence.

Vascular access related septicemia in hemodialysis: a focus on bacterial flora and antibiotic access salvage.

A good vascular access is the lifeline of patients on long-term hemodialysis (HD) and anteriovenous fistula is considered the ideal access. Vascular access related septicemia (VARS) is the second most common cause of mortality among HD patients. Such infections could also lead to loss of vascular access unless specific measures are taken to preserve the accesses. The present study was designed to determine the incidence of septicemia, common bacterial flora involved, and impact of early, empirical antibiotic therapy on vascular access salvage among HD patients. This prospective study, involved 209 patients, undergoing long-term HD, from June 1996 to June 2000. A total of 85 (40.6%) developed VARS with predominance in females (63.7%), patients above 50 years of age (37.0%) and those having diabetes mellitus (25.1%). A total of 124 episodes of septicemia were recorded with an average of 1.23 episodes per 100 patient-months during the four year (10032 patient-months) study period. Peripheral blood samples for culture and sensitivity were collected and the patients were started empirically on amikacin-vancomycin combination which was modified after obtaining culture and sensitivity results. A cure was defined as 45 days symptom-free interval after antibiotic therapy was completed. Staphylococcus aureus was the commonest (29.0%) organism associated with VARS, followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.3%). The temporary vascular access group recorded maximum number of VARS episodes; [femoral catheter (FC) group, (43.5%), followed by subclavian (SC) group, (28.2%)] and the lowest (8.8%) was seen in the AVF group. Vascular access salvage rate of 48/85 (56.4%) and mortality of 22/85 (25.9%) was observed in the present study. Antibiotic access salvage with Amikacin-Vancomycin combination has an advantage of preserving vascular access sites in at least, 50% of cases.

Prevalence of hepatitis C antibodies among hemodialysis patients in Al-hasa region of saudi arabia.

The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies among hemodialysis (HD) patients was studied at King Fahad Hospital, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. The records of 189 patients undergoing HD were reviewed. The overall prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was 43.9%. Anti-HCV antibody prevalence was more common among female patients. There was no correlation between repeated blood transfusions and anti-HCV positivity as 4.8% of the patients who did not receive any blood transfusion during HD were positive for anti-HCV antibodies. A positive correlation was observed between the duration on dialysis and anti-HCV antibodies. An annual serocoversion rate of 6.8% was observed in this study.