Spontaneous Catheter Separation from the Implanted Venous Port and Its Migration to the Venous Heart: Clinical Case

Abstract

Background. Currently, vascular access is one of the most important aspects in specific and accompanying treatment of cancer patients regardless of their age and sex. Partially implanted venous catheters previously described by Hickman were widely applied all over the world. The introduction of completely implanted venous port-systems revolutionized health care delivery and improved the quality of life in patients with oncological diseases. A fully implanted venous port consists of a silicone catheter which distal tip is connected to a port tank implanted subcutaneously. Such a design allows providing safe and multiple adequate vascular accesses regardless of the patient’s clinical state.Case Report. We present a clinical case of a 10-year-old patient diagnosed with medulloblastoma of the cerebellopontine angle and the left cerebellar hemisphere. The case described spontaneous detachment of an implanted venous port catheter and its migration to the venous heart in a patient who underwent chemotherapy by venous access provided through implantation of the venous port.Conclusion. Our clinical case demonstrated a rare and potentially extremely dangerous noninfectious complication associated with the use of venous port-systems. Implanted systems require washing 1–2 times per month with heparinized solutions or solutions containing taurolidine when they are not used. Periodic chest radiographs can reveal integrity alterations of the system. Any implanted system should be removed when it is not used, or it should be monitored on a regular basis.