[Bacteraemia in a patient with a central venous line is not a reason for immediate removal of the line].

Fever and the presence of a central venous catheter is a frequent combination in (critically) ill patients, but has a low predictive value for catheter-related sepsis. Therefore, the immediate removal of a central venous line is often unnecessary, even if there is fear for endocarditis when Staphylococcus aureus is present. Recent studies have shown that the odds ratio for this complication is rather low.