Update on Peripherically Inserted Central Catheters in Patients with HIV in a tertiary hospital

Abstract

Literature on patients with HIV and Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter “PICC“ published on MEDLINE database in English and Spanish have thoroughly been studied, revised and updated. We reviewed the medical records of all Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected patients with Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter “PICC” implanted from 2010 to 2016. In view of changes over the past in the intravenous management of patients with AIDS and infectious disease, we performed at Policlinico Gemelli Hospital a retrospective study of the last six years, in which we had reviewed all HIV infected patients with PICCs. Retrospectively we have evaluated the clinical severity of patients enrolled using Charlson-Deyo comorbidity score. Our hospital has 1500 beds. There are two departments of infectious diseases for a total of 40 beds. There is an outpatient service where HIV patients are followed and a Day Hospital where chemotherapy is administered. All HIV- infected patients who had PICC were identified about the occurrence of one of the following events: catheter related complication, catheter requiring removal in all cases, or death. All statistical procedures were performed using the SPSS software package (SPSS Inc. Version 15.0, Chicago).