Quantitative blood cultures in the evaluation of septicemia in children with Broviac catheters.

We applied quantitative methods of analysis to all blood cultures drawn during the course of treatment in 28 children with Broviac catheters in a central vein. Thirty febrile episodes in 14 of these patients were evaluated. Samples of blood obtained from a peripheral vein and through the central catheter were cultured quantitatively on agar plates and nonquantitatively in standard broth media. Catheters were judged to be a source of septicemia nine times in seven children. In all nine positive catheter samples, the concentration of pathogens was 10 times as great as that observed in the peripheral venous sample. The blood drawn through the Broviac catheter contained greater than or equal to 2000 colony-forming units per milliliter in six cases. Quantitative cultures in two patients with septicemia not attributable to the catheter yielded low colony counts in the catheter sample. Cultures of blood samples drawn through the catheter when a child was well were not helpful in predicting subsequent septicemia. The technique of inoculating blood directly onto agar plates is easily performed and superior to standard broth cultures, because it detected pathogens within 16 hours and identified infections with multiple organisms.