The antimicrobial removal device. A microbiological and clinical evaluation.

A parallel study of blood cultured conventionally and following processing in an Antimicrobial Removal Device (ARD) was conducted with patients suspected of being clinically bacteremic. Cultures yielded 205 isolates from 87 clinically bacteremic patients, of whom 28 were receiving antibiotics at the time their cultures were performed. Overall, ARD processing neither increased the isolation rate nor decreased the time interval required for detection of organisms compared with conventional processing. ARD processing was the only means of isolation of organisms from only seven of the 87 patients and three of the 28 receiving antibiotics, whereas conventional processing accounted for the only means of isolation of organisms from 17 of the 87 patients and nine of the 28 receiving antibiotics. ARD processing demonstrated no advantages over conventional processing of blood cultures.