Central-venous-catheter-related bloodstream infections in adult patients with sickle cell disease: a retrospective, two-centre study.

PURPOSE: Although catheter-related infections are the leading cause of bloodstream infections in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), data are scarce in adult patients. The objectives of the present study were to describe central-venous-catheter-related bloodstream infections in patients with SCD and identify risk factors.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective, observational study of adult patients with SCD diagnosed with central-venous-catheter-related bloodstream infections between 2011 and 2023 in two SCD reference centres. Each patient with SCD and a bloodstream infection related to a totally implantable venous access port was matched with two control patients with SCD and an infection-free totally implantable venous access port.

RESULTS

Thirty-five (6.6%) of the 534 patients experienced a total of 69 central-venous-catheter-related bloodstream infections. Concomitant vaso-occlusive crises were observed for 81.2% of the infections. The 30-day mortality rate was 2.8%, and the infection recurrence rate was 45.7%. We observed 26 totally implantable venous access port-related bloodstream infections in 19 patients, with an incidence rate of 0.31 per 1000 catheter-days. After adjustment, the frequency of hospital admission for a vaso-occlusive crisis (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.6 [1.2-2.4]) and the presence of a psychiatric comorbidity (19.8 [4.0-148.1]) remained significantly associated with totally implantable venous access port-related bloodstream infections. Suboptimal antibiotic levels were observed in five (39%) of the 13 patients having undergone therapeutic drug monitoring. The treatment failed in four (80%) of the five patients, who presented with glomerular hyperfiltration.

CONCLUSION

A central-venous-catheter-related bloodstream infection is a severe complication in adult patients with SCD and is associated with psychiatric comorbidities and severe SCD.