Percutaneous central venous catheters in neonates: a descriptive analysis and evaluation of predictors for sepsis.

The article describes the experience with percutaneous central venous catheters in 565 neonates with birth weights of 400 to 6810 g. The catheter-related sepsis incidence was 19.1%, or 13.5 infections per 1000 catheter days. By discriminant function analysis, 86% of all neonates studied were correctly classified into the confirmed sepsis and no sepsis groups on the basis of six predictor variables. The model did not accurately predict the neonates who would develop confirmed sepsis. The weight at catheter insertion and length of time for which the catheter was in place were identified as variables that contributed significantly to differentiation between sepsis and no sepsis groups.