Cefepime therapeutic drug monitoring: Evaluation of agreement between peripheral and central venous blood sampling.
BACKGROUND
Therapeutic drug monitoring for cefepime is increasingly being performed because of the potential relation between exposure and neurotoxicity. An in vitro pilot study suggested significant carryover of cefepime from central venous catheters when blood sampling is carried out via the same catheter used for administration of cefepime. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate carryover of cefepime in a real-life clinical setting.


METHODS
A prospective single-center study was conducted at the hematology department of the University Hospitals Leuven. Patients treated with cefepime, and having a central venous catheter, were included. Cefepime trough samples were taken simultaneously via the central venous catheter and peripheral venepuncture.


RESULTS
Twenty-four patients were included in this study, resulting in 28, 11 and 5 paired samples for tunnelled catheters, implantable port catheters and peripherally inserted central catheters, respectively. No statistically nor clinically significant difference was found between cefepime concentrations measured in centrally versus peripherally obtained blood samples, overall and for all three types of central venous catheters separately. Of note, four paired samples showed a difference larger than 10%, with lower central concentrations probably reflecting a dilution error.


CONCLUSION
There was no significant carryover of cefepime from long-term central venous catheters. Cefepime samples can be drawn reliably via the central venous catheter, after flushing and discarding the first blood sample. Although, flushing and discard volumes should be standardized to avoid potential dilution errors.
['Gijsen|Matthias|M|', 'Maertens|Johan|J|', 'Lagrou|Katrien|K|', 'Peetermans|Willy E|WE|', 'Fage|David|D|', 'Debaveye|Yves|Y|', 'Spriet|Isabel|I|']
D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous D000077723:Cefepime D062905:Central Venous Catheters D016903:Drug Monitoring D006801:Humans D010865:Pilot Projects D011446:Prospective Studies
Cefepime Therapeutic drug monitoring Carryover Catheter