title: Failure to attain electrocardiogram-facilitated positioning of right atrial catheters when using the Arrow Antecubital Central Venous Catheterization Kit.
abstract: When right atrial catheters are used to diagnose and treat venous air emboli in sitting neurosurgical patients, it is possible to position the catheter tip near the junction of the superior vena cava and right atrium using electrocardiogram (ECG)-based methodologies. This report describes three patients in whom this technique could not be accomplished when using the Arrow Antecubital Central Venous Catheterization Kit (Product #AK04250). The problem resulted from an imperfection in the kit's catheter-to-ECG adapter which, in turn, produced an electrical resistance that was 2.5 times greater than normal. Replacement of the adapters with the Arrow-Johans ECG Adapter (Product #EG04900) reduced the electrical resistance and permitted positioning of the catheter using the ECG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Lanier
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D002405:Catheterization, Central Venous / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000175:diagnosis; D004868:Equipment Failure; D006325:Heart Atria; D006801:Humans; D014680:Veins