Jpen Parenter Enter
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Jpen Parenter Enter · Sep 1988
Case ReportsCatheter fracture and embolization in a totally implanted venous access catheter.
A totally implanted venous access system was placed in a 24-year-old male patient with Hodgkins disease for chemotherapy. Twelve months after implantation it was noted on chest x-ray that the catheter had fractured and the distal fragment embolized to the right ventricle. ⋯ It is an even rarer complication of implanted central venous catheters. With the increasing use of these new venous access systems this complication may become a more prevalent, but an avoidable complication.