Broken venous catheter straddling in the pulmonary artery

Abstract

The 49-year old male patient received eight cycles of adjuvant XELOX chemotherapy after the removal of a colon cancer of stage Dukes C. At the beginning of the oncological therapy, a portacath was implanted with the aim of easy vein access. Four years after the termination of the chemotherapy, routine CT showed that the tube of the portacath was missing at the reservoir side, but a 10 cm long catheter was drifted in the 2 branches of the pulmonary artery at the bifurcation. By retrospective viewing, the catheter suffered refraction during the follow-up period, and remained so for 1.5 years before detection. Vigilance should be practiced for the appropriate follow-up or the removal of the port when it is no longer needed.