Central venous brachial catheter (P.A.S. Port TM) and catheter scanning system (Cath-Finder TM)

To assess the effectiveness and safety of an implanted portal with a central venous brachial implanted catheter, P.A.S. Port TM(P-P), and the accuracy of its Cath Finder TM tracking system (C-F), (Pharmacia Deltec) vs. radiology, a phase II multicentric study was designed. The catheter was implanted in 53 oncologic patients treated with chemotherapy and the performance of the catheter was evaluated for 3 months. No problems arose during the implantation in 77% of the cases and in all cases radiologic location of the catheter tip coincided with the C-F. We can conclude that P-P is easy to implant and to maintain in the arm and that it is well tolerated by the patients. C-F is an accurate and reliable system for locating the catheter tip. The use of both systems is an attractive alternative to the standard ones.