Micrococcus-associated central venous catheter infection in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Study Objectives: To determine the incidence of catheter-related infection in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) receiving epoprostenol (EPO), and to note an etiologic role for Micrococcus spp, which is rarely reported as a pathogen in the medical literature.

Design: Observational study.

Setting: Two PAH specialty treatment centers, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (Torrance, CA), and the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University (New York, NY).

Primary pulmonary hypertension: improved long-term effects and survival with continuous intravenous epoprostenol infusion.

Objectives: This study sought to determine the long-term effects of continuous infusion of epoprostenol (epo) therapy on survival and pulmonary artery pressure in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH).

Background: PPH is a progressive disease for which there are few effective therapies.

Methods: Patients with PPH and New York Heart Association functional class III or IV symptoms of congestive heart failure underwent right heart catheterization and Doppler-echocardiography to measure the maximal systolic pressure gradient between the right ventricle and right atrium (delta P) and cardiac output (CO).