PEDIATRICS Vol. 80 No. 4 October 1987, pp. 535-539
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Aschner, J. L.
Right arrow Articles by Menegus, M. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Aschner, J. L.
Right arrow Articles by Menegus, M. A.

Percutaneous Central Venous Catheter Colonization With Malassezia furfur: Incidence and Clinical Significance

Judy L. Aschner MD1, Amado Punsalang Jr PhD1, William M. Maniscalco MD1, and Marilyn A. Menegus PhD1

1 From the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York

Malassezia furfur colonization of central venous catheters has been implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic infections with this lipid-dependent yeast. To determine the incidence of catheter colonization in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), 25 consecutively removed percutaneous central venous catheters were examined by rinsing the lumen with saline and plating the rinse fluid on Sabouraud dextrose agar overlaid with olive oil. M furfur grew from the lumina of eight catheters (32%). Surveillance skin cultures were performed in the NICU on two occasions to determine the prevalence of skin colonization with M furfur. M furfur was found on the skin of 64% of the infants. In contrast, only 3% (1/33) of healthy, nonhospitalized infants 2 to 8 weeks of age had skin colonized with M furfur. During the 5-month study period, two NICU infants had evidence of systemic infection with M furfur. We conclude that M furfur frequently colonizes both the skin and percutaneous central venous catheters in NICU infants. Further studies are needed to determine the relationship between skin colonization and catheter colonization, and the factors contributing to systemic disease with this organism.

Key Words: Malassezia furfur • bronchopulmonary dysplasia • neonatal intensive care unit • percutaneous central venous catheter

Accepted on October 31, 1986