Cardiac Syncope From Fluid Extravasation From Subclavian Vein Catheter

To the Editor.— Sepsis 1,2 and a variety of thromboembolic complications 3-5 have been reported with the use of indwelling venous polyethylene catheters. The following case demonstrates an additional problem encountered during clysis and central venous pressure (CVP) monitoring through a long catheter with the tip located in the subclavian vein. Report of a Case.— A 40-year-old Vietnamese woman was admitted to the Navy Hospital Ship USS Repose with a large anterior mediastinal mass and venous distention of the head, neck, and upper extremities. Biopsy was diagnostic for reticulum cell sarcoma with invasion of the anterior chest wall. Because of her critical condition, a long central venous pressure catheter was introduced into the right subclavian vein from the antecubital fossa. Forty-eight hours later, while a rapid infusion of 500 ml of physiological saline was being administered for oliguria thought to be on a prerenal basis, the patient suddenly became diaphoretic