In situ management and molecular analysis of candidaemia related to a totally implantable vascular access in a cystic fibrosis patient

We describe a case of candidaemia in a paediatric cystic fibrosis (CF) patient with a totally implantable vascular access (TIVA). Serial quantitative blood cultures during therapy with amphotericin B delivered via the catheter suggested that the patient was responding to therapy. The TIVA was finally removed because of persistent fever, but its culture remained sterile. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of Candida albicans from various anatomical sites showed that the patient's sputum was the most likely source of TIVA contamination. Investigation of TIVA-related candidaemia by molecular analysis could guide rational antifungal chemoprophylaxis of TIVA-related candidaemia.