LAUSR

To the editor: Mild eosinophilia is not uncommon in hemodialysis patients. It is historically related in most cases to allergic reactions to the extracorporeal circuit components and more rarely to various conditions ranging from infections to malignancies. We report on six patients (Table 1) who developed an acute severe eosinophilia (median peak of eosinophil count, 8.6 3.3 G/) that was induced by the insertion of tunneled central venous catheters. The link between eosinophilia and central venous catheters is substantiated by causality assessment, based first on chronological criteria (Figure 1): while eosinophil blood count was normal for several years, it dramatically increased after the catheter insertion, persisted at high levels as long as the catheter was left in place and resolved shortly after catheter withdrawal. Besides, in patients 3 and 4, eosinophilia recurred after a further venous catheter insertion. Furthermore, comprehensive etiological work-up (parasites culture and serological tests, autoantibodies