Thrombosis as a Complication of Pulmonary-Artery Catheterization Via the Internal Jugular Vein

Abstract

SINCE its introduction in 1970, 1 the flow-directed balloon-tipped (Swan–Ganz) catheter has gained clinical acceptance and increased usage for continuous monitoring of the hemodynamic status of severely ill patients. Among the complications occasionally reported with the use of this device, deep-vein thrombosis has been rare. Swan et al. 1 have described a case in which a thrombus developed in the superior vena cava and enveloped the shaft of the catheter. In 1974, Foote et al. 2 described nine patients in whom the catheter was implicated as the cause of pulmonary ischemic lesions; in two patients, these pulmonary lesions were probably due to emboli. © 1982, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.