Central venous catheter-related infections in pediatric hematology-oncology patients: role of home and hospital management.

In a 61-month period, 135 single-lumen central venous catheters (CVCs) were positioned in 125 children with mainly hematological malignancies. We retrospectively investigated the different role of home and hospital CVC management in development of CVC-related infections (CI) during different hematological conditions (presence or absence of neutropenia). Forty-nine percent of the children presented at least one CI, for a total of 109 episodes, during the 20,558 days a CVC remained in situ.

HPLC determination of azidothymidine (AZT) and its metabolite in human plasma.

In order to evaluate the amount of Azidothymidine (AZT) and its metabolite (GAZT) in human plasma, the HPLC retention times of both compounds on a C18 column as well as on an anionic column by using, as eluent, the same mobile phase have been studied. The two chromatographic systems did not allow, separately, a simultaneous determination of AZT and GAZT. In fact AZT is easily revealed by a C18 column whereas the GAZT elution results too fast and the peak falls into plasmatic matrix.