• Giuseppe Citerio, Liana Signorini, Alfio Bronco, Alessia Vargiolu, Matteo Rota, Nicola Latronico, and Infezioni LIquorali Catetere Correlate Study Investigators.
• 1Department of Health Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy. 2Neurointensive Care, Department of Emergency and Intensive Care, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy. 3Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy. 4Department of Epidemiology, IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy. 5Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Emergency, Spedali Civili Hospital, Brescia, Italy. 6Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
• Crit. Care Med. 2015 Aug 1;43(8):1630-7.

ObjectiveUse of external ventricular drains and lumbar catheters is associated with a risk of ventriculitis and meningitis ranging from 2% to 24% because of lack of standardized diagnostic criteria. We evaluated the prevalence of ventriculitis or meningitis in 13 Italian ICUs.DesignMulticenter, prospective study.SettingThirteen Italian ICUs.PatientsTwo hundred seventy-one patients (mean age, 57 yr) receiving a total number of 311 catheters. Two hundred fifty patients (92.2%) had an external ventricular drain, 17 patients (6.3%) had a lumbar catheter, and four patients (1.5%) had both external ventricular drain and lumbar catheter.InterventionsICUs enrolled at least 10 consecutive adult patients with an external ventricular drain or lumbar catheter in place for more than 24 hours. Confirmed cerebrospinal fluid infection was defined by presence of a positive cerebrospinal fluid culture, a cerebrospinal fluid/blood glucose ratio less than 0.5, a neutrophilic cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis (> 5 cells/μL), and fever. Abnormal cerebrospinal fluid findings with negative cultures were defined as suspected infection.Measurements And Main ResultsMedian duration of device use was 13 days (interquartile range, 8-19). Fifteen patients (5.5%) had a confirmed ventriculitis or meningitis, and 15 patients (5.5%) had a suspected ventriculitis or meningitis. Cerebrospinal fluid glucose and cerebrospinal fluid/blood glucose ratio were lower in patients with confirmed ventriculitis or meningitis and suspected ventriculitis or meningitis; proteins and lactates were significantly higher in confirmed ventriculitis or meningitis. Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria were equally cultured. Risk factors for infection were a concomitant extracranial infection (odds ratio, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.01-5.40; p = 0.05) and placement of catheters outside the operation room (odds ratio, 4.01; 95% CI, 0.98-16.50; p = 0.05).ConclusionsVentriculitis or meningitis remains a problem in Italian ICUs, and a strategy for reducing the prevalence is worth planning.

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