Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: Health care associated infections (HAIs) are a class of infections that infect patients during hospital admissions and receive medical services. These infections occurs within 48 to 72 hours of admission and up to 6 weeks after discharge. Surveillance of device-associated infections (DAIs) in intensive care units (ICUs) is substantial in planning healthcare strategies. This study was conducted to determine the device-associated infections' burden and antimicrobial resistance patterns.
Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, three common device-associated infections included central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLA-BSI), ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI), were assessed in intensive care units of Besat Hospital in Hamedan from April 2017 to April 2018. In order to determine the incidence of device-associated infections, the number of device-associated infection cases was calculated during the study period and divided into the number of device-days used. The device-days included all days of exposure to that device (vascular catheter, endotracheal tube (ventilator), or urinary catheter) in all patients in the study population.
Results: Out of 1806 intensive care unit admitted cases, 168 patients (9.3%) were device-associated infection with distribution of 92 cases (55%) of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), 56 cases (34%) of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI) and 20 cases (11%) of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CL-BSI). The incidence of VAP, CA-UTI and CL-BSI was 44.7, 17.5, and 21.61 days, respectively. The most organisms were Acinetobacter (27.4%), Klebsiella (18.3%), Escherichia coli (E. coli) (15.4%). Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) was 75%. Acinetobacter resistance to colistin and carbapenem was 16.8%. About half of Pseudomonas isolates were resistant to meropenem.
Conclusion: According to the present findings of this study, a high incidence of device-associated infections and resistant organisms in our intensive care units were documented, which represents a need to reinforce the preventive and control programs. Various results in different studies can be due to differences in the level of health care in different centers and countries.

Background: Central venous catheterization is a procedure that is being performed frequently especially in critical clinical settings. In such conditions, good knowledge of the surface anatomy of venous structures is vital to avoid possible complications which could result in life-threatening situations such as bleeding and pneumothorax. Considering the difference between venous anatomy of children and adults and even among different age groups of children, and the fact that our recent knowledge of anatomy is based on studies performed on non-Iranian population, we decided to evaluate the anatomy of the intrathoracic systemic venous system in adults and children and assess the rate of catheter malposition in children.
Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study performed in Dr. Shariati Hospital and Children Medical Center of Excellence, Tehran, Iran, from April 2016 to August 2019. In our study, the surface location of brachiocephalic vein (BCV) formation, the junction of superior vena cava (SVC) to right atrium and, formation of SVC were examined in 150 contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) scans in children. They were classified into three groups based on their age (neonates to three years, three to seven years, and seven to ten years). Also, 100 similar CT scans in adults were being studied. The other category which has been evaluated through 130 pediatric X-rays, was the location of the tip of the central venous catheter.

Conclusion: This study indicated the different anatomy of central veins in children and adults which could be a cause for malposed central catheter, so knowing this difference and controlling the tip of the catheter by ultrasound during catheterization could help in avoiding this malpositioning.

Background: Adequacy of dialysis is a very important issue in dialysis patients, so comparing the adequacy of dialysis in different dialysis methods is very important. Therefore, due to the fact that the number of people undergoing dialysis  through fistulas and catheters varies in different centers, and depending on different centers, there is a possibility of decreasing or increasing the adequacy of dialysis, so we decided to do this comparison in Arak support center.
Methods: In this analytical-cross-sectional study, the dialysis patients of Hami Arak Center from April 2019 to September 2019 were divided into two groups (the first group with permanent catheter, the second group with arteriovenous fistula) based on vascular access. The both groups were matched in terms of age, sex, weight, pump speed, filter size and also the duration of dialysis. All patients were dialyzed with the same type of dialysis machine, and the duration of hemodialysis for all samples was 4 hours in each session. To confirm the reliability of the device, it was calibrated before each use and the same setting was used for all samples. The blood samples were taken from the arterial route before dialysis and starting the dilution with heparin or normal saline. Statistical models of dialysis adequacy of patients in two groups were measured using the Kt/V criterion, SPSS and AMOS data analysis was performed.

Results: In the analysis of covariance of BUN before dialysis, there is a statistically significant difference in the studied groups (P<0.05), also in the UF and URR variables, dialysis time and the number of times of dialysis in three consecutive repetitions, there is a statistically significant difference in the studied groups. (dime fistula and catheter) are not present (P<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, during repeated repetitions, 22% of the dialysis adequacy in the two groups did not have good adequacy, and 78% of the patients in the two groups had appropriate dialysis adequacy.