Acta radiologica
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Comparative Study
Intravascular ultrasonographic assessment of thrombus formation on central venous catheters.
In vitro experiments were performed in order to investigate the appearance of different types of central venous catheters at intravascular ultrasonography. The experiments were repeated with artificially produced thrombi which were made adherent to the catheter wall. All thrombi larger than 1 mm could be identified. ⋯ There were no complications following the ultrasonographic procedures. Mean catheterization time was 7.5 min (range 3-20 min). The advantages of this new method compared with conventional phlebographic studies and its impact on further clinical investigations are discussed.