Abstract
Introduction: Port catheters are essential for optimal and comfortable treatment of hematological malignancy.
Materials and Methods: Two hundred and ninety-five patients with acute leukemia were analyzed retrospectively. Eighty-five patients with a port catheter (Group-1) who suffered a total of 151 infection attacks and 80 patients without a port catheter (Group-2) who suffered a total of 107 infection attacks were included in the study.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 54.80±33.51 months in Group-1 (n:85) and 80.61±45.42 months in Group-2 (n:80) (p<0.001). The mean duration of the G-CSF requirement was 2.77±4.07 days/attack in Group-1 and 0.86±1.96 days/attack in Group-2. The patients without a port catheter required Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) for a shorter time during an infection attack (p<0.001). An analysis of the blood cultures taken during infection attacks of Group-1 revealed 23 (15.2%) attacks by Staphylococcus epidermidis and 19 (12.6%) attacks by Staphylococcus hominis as causative agents. In Group-2, nine (8.5%) attacks were caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis, and 5 (4.7%) attacks were caused by Staphylococcus hominis as causative agents. Staphylococcus epidermidis was significantly more common in Group-1 than Group-2 (p<0.001). In Group-1, the Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and Platelet/Lymphocyte Ratio (PLR) showed a significant difference between pre-treatment and post-treatment period of infection attacks (p=0.025, p=0.008).
Conclusion: The duration of the use of port catheters may increase the incidence of bloodstream infection, but if appropriate patient care is provided, port catheters can be used safely during the treatment of acute leukemia. Besides, we suggest that CRP, NLR, and PLR values during an infection attack of patients with port catheters provide valuable information about the duration and severity of the infection attack and are useful in clinical follow-up.

Key words: Acute leukemia, port catheter, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, platelet lymphocyte ratio