[Implantable devices for permanent venous access. A single-center prospective study comparing an AIDS population with...

Although the tolerance of indwelling catheters in AIDS patients has been evaluated, the complications of implanted devices in this population are unknown. This encouraged us to compare in a prospective unicenter trial, dealing with 80 consecutive implanted devices, the complications of this kind of system in 20 AIDS patients, versus a control population. The follow-up was 10,658 days. No patient was excluded or lost to follow-up. In the control population, the infection rate was 5% (0.036 per 100 catheter days). We observed 3 thromboses (5%). In the AIDS group, the infection rate was 25% (0.21 per 100 catheter days). We observed 1 thrombosis (5%). This trial shows that implanted devices are more frequently infected in AIDS patients (p less than 0.05) than in a control population; it suggests that the infection rate in AIDS patients is not superior to the indwelling catheter rate, as reported in the literature. The precision of bacteriological tests and use of antibiotic therapy adapted to the clinical context should help to determine, in the presence of suspected infection, whether the implanted device can be maintained or should be removed in this high risk population.