Heart Catheters Coated With 2 Antibiotics Cut Chance of Infection, Report Says

Tubes that let doctors infuse drugs directly into the heart are less likely to foster infection if they are coated with two antibiotics, researchers report in today’s New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Rabih Darouiche of the Baylor College of Medicine and colleagues found that heart catheters made by Cook Critical Care of Bloomington, Ind., and coated with the antibiotics minocycline and rifampin were one-third as likely to develop bacterial infections as those made by Arrow International. The Arrow catheters were coated with the antibiotic chlohexidine and the antibacterial chemical silver sulfadiazine.

About 150,000 Americans now develop bloodstream infections each year when bacteria get into their heart catheters. Based on the new findings, the risk of infection could be cut from 5% among patients who receive heart catheters with no special coating to less than 1% using the Cook catheter, the report said.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II