From 2008 to 2010, patients with microbiologically confirmed Gram-negative catheter-related bloodstream infection (GN-CRBSI) were each compared with two randomly selected controls. We included 81 cases (17% of all CRBSI) and 162 controls with CRBSI caused by other pathogens. Incidence of GN-CRBSI was 0.53 episodes per 1000 admissions. Cases were more likely to have underlying neurological disease or gastrointestinal conditions, previous antimicrobial therapy and a shorter time to blood culture positivity. Surgery in the present admission (odds ratio: 3.5), P. aeruginosa (3.6) and a complicated bacteraemia (4.1) were related to a higher mortality rate. GN-CRBSI accounts for 17% of all CRBSI and should be taken into consideration in the empirical therapy of patients with the characteristics mentioned above.
