Reduced colonization and infection with miconazole-rifampicin modified central venous catheters: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Objective: Central venous catheters (CVC) are a major cause of nosocomial bloodstream infections. Catheters modified with miconazole and rifampicin that constantly and slowly release antimicrobial substances are assumed to be beneficial in reducing rates of colonization and catheter-related infections.

Design And Setting: Prospective controlled non-blinded randomized clinical trial in two German university hospitals.

[Special aspects of implant-associated infection in orthopedic surgery. From the pathophysiology to custom-tailored prevention strategies].

One of the most important risk factors in orthopedic surgery is implant-associated infection. Adhesion and colonization mediated implant infections are extremely resistant to antibiotics and host defences and frequently persist until the biomaterial or foreign body is removed, which is standard therapy. Tissue damage caused by surgery and foreign body implantation increases the susceptibility to infections, activates host defences and stimulates the generation of inflammatory mediators including radicals that are further aggravated by bacterial activity and toxins.

Human cervicofacial actinomycoses: microbiological data for 1997 cases.

Actinomycoses are sporadically occurring endogenous polymicrobial inflammatory processes, in which fermentative actinomycetes of the genera Actinomyces, Propionibacterium, or Bifidobacterium act as the principal pathogens. Difficulties in diagnosing the disease in a timely and reliable fashion have led clinicians and microbiologists to grossly underestimate its medical importance. Therefore, we evaluated microbiological and selected clinical data derived from 1997 culture-positive cases of human cervicofacial actinomycoses examined in our laboratories during 1972-1999.

Antiinfective and encrustation-inhibiting materials--myth and facts.

Catheters, urethral and ureteral stents and other urological implants are frequently affected by encrustration and infection due to their permanent contact with urine. Indwelling urinary catheters provide a haven for microorganisms and thus require extensive monitoring. Several surface modification techniques have been proposed to improve the performance of devices including the immobilization of biomolecules, the incorporation of hydrophilic grafts to reduce protein adsorption, the creation of hydrophobic surfaces, the creation of microdomains to regulate cellular and protein adhesion, new polymers and antimicrobial coatings.

Novel strategies to prevent catheter-associated infections in oncology patients.

Aggressive cytotoxic treatment of cancer contributes to the growing number of life-threatening infections. Vascular catheters create predominant risks for staphylococcal, enterococcal and candida blood stream infections. Although the contaminating microorganisms may be few in number, the altered host immune response in the presence of such implants as well as disease-associated immunosuppression implies that even small bacterial counts have to be regarded as highly virulent species.