Biofilms on indwelling vascular catheters.

Background and Methods: Some bacteria have a natural tendency to adhere to available surfaces and to form biofilms. Biofilms have been demonstrated on right heart flow-directed catheters, endocardial pacemakerleads, urinary catheters, and other medical devices. In this study, we examined arterial and central venous catheters that had been in place in ICU patients between 1 and 14 days for the presence of bacterial biofilms by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and a special scraping/sonication bacterial recovery technique. The data taken from these processes were compared with skin entry site swabs and blood cultures