Congratulations to Amanda Ullman The 2016 Pettit Scholar In Dr. Pettit's honor, AVA and the Pediatric Special Interest Group recognize her scholarly excellence and contributions to the art and science of vascular access and bestows the title of the Janet Pettit Scholar 2016 on Ms. Amanda Ullman.  Ms. Ullman is an internationally-recognized researcher and outstanding pediatric clinician and colleague. Her practice-changing work focuses on prevention of complication...

Background A central venous catheter (CVC) is a long, thin, flexible tube which is inserted into a large central vein. This enables access to the blood stream for people with serious medical conditions to receive medications and fluids, as well as the collection of blood specimens. Long term central venous catheters are used to access the blood system in children with complex medical conditions like cancer. To stop the catheter from becoming blocked it is usual to use heparin, a drug that...