The effect of right atrial catheters on infectious complications of chemotherapy in children.

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Abstract
Rates of infections and catheter complications in children with right atrial catheters (RACs) receiving chemotherapy were compared with those without RACs in a retrospective cohort study. One hundred sixty-five children presenting to Yale-New Haven Hospital with a malignancy diagnosed between January 1, 1981 and December 31, 1985 were followed through June 30, 1986 for the number of treatment-related complications resulting in hospitalization. The time on therapy totaled 80,089 person-days that were divided into 510 periods of observation defined by the presence or absence of a RAC, disease status (remission, partial remission, or relapse), intensity of chemotherapy (using a 0 to 4 scale), and use of radiation therapy. Children with RACs experienced markedly higher rates of sepsis (14-fold higher, P less than .0001) and catheter-site infection or other catheter complications requiring hospitalization (both greater than 30-fold higher, P less than .0001). These effects persisted after controlling for other...

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