Infection of central venous catheters (CVC) is a relatively common occurrence in immunocompromised patients, management of which has included I.V. antibiotics +/- removal of catheter. We have previously demonstrated that intracatheter administration of Amikacin empirically, successfully eradicated all bacterial infections except those due to S. epidermidis. A study was subsequently undertaken to treat gram positive cocci infections of CVC with intracatheter Teicoplanin. Eleven patients attending a single institution with documented gram positive cocci infection of CVC over a one year period were included in the study. Teicoplanin was instilled with heparinised saline once daily into the infected lumen of the CVC and allowed to remain for 24 hours. Treatment was continued for 48 hours after negative cultures were reported. Teicoplanin was successful in eradicating infection in 100% of cases. Mean duration of treatment was six days (range 4-9 days). Four patients subsequently developed a further infection, a mean of 13 weeks from first infection, only one of which was due to the same organism and this was successfully treated by a further course of Teicoplanin. No side effects were reported and catheter life was prolonged a mean of 132 days after completion of treatment. The use of Teicoplanin in this way for treatment of gram positive cocci infection of CVC is highly effective; once daily administration of antibiotic enables treatment to be given on an outpatient basis, thereby minimising hospital admission.

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The practice of flushing the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit and oxygenator with carbon dioxide (CO 2) has been shown to reduce priming time. However, the optimal flow rate of CO2 and the time for which it must be flushed through the circuit in order to remove the air, have not been determined. In this experiment, CO2 was passed through the arterial filter and arteriovenous (AV) loop at various flow rates and serial gas samples were taken from the circuit. The residual concentration of air in each sample was measured using a gas chromatograph. It was shown that as the flow rate of CO2 was increased, the time taken to remove the residual air decreased. Flushing the circuit with CO2 at a flow rate of 6 l/min for four minutes ensures a residual air concentration of less than 0.01%.