Clinical significance of isolated Staphylococcus aureus central venous catheter tip cultures.

This retrospective cohort study examined the clinical significance of isolated Staphylococcus aureus central venous catheter (CVC) tip cultures (i.e., positive tip cultures without concomitant positive blood cultures). Subsequent S. aureus bacteraemia was found in nine (12%) of 77 patients at a median time of 4 days after CVC removal. A high co-morbidity score and no effective antibiotic treatment within 48 h of CVC removal were independent risk-factors for septic complications following multivariate analysis. A matched case-control study that compared the above cohort with patients with CVC tip cultures negative for S. aureus supported the significance of these findings.