[Cardiac tamponade during parenteral feeding through a subclavian catheter (author's transl)]

Among the complications of the cava catheter, cardiac perforation with subsequent cardiac tamponade is in fact the rarest but also the most serious. A perforation of the right ventricle by a cava catheter left in for 7 days is reported. The cardiac tamponade and the resulting shock syndrome could be eliminated by aspirating the fluid which had infused into the pericardial space. Subsequently, the catheter could be removed without complication. The rare but usually serious complication provides an argument for the critical indication of the cava catheter.