Journal of Vascular Medicine & Surgery

Abstract

PICC’ing Your Way into the Pericardium: A Potential Catastrophic Complication of a PICC Line

Young Im Lee, Lina Miyakawa, Michael Bergman and Robert L Smith

This is a rare case of a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) that was found to be in the pericardiacophrenic vein on a post-procedure chest X-ray. An 82-year-old man was admitted to the medical ICU for severe sepsis with shock and a PICC was placed for vasopressor support. Malpositioning of a central venous catheter can lead to catastrophic results including, perforation, pericardial effusion and tamponade.