Pulmonary artery catheter is an invasive monitor usually placed in high-risk cardiac surgical patients to optimize the cardiac functions. We present this case of blood oozing from the oximetry connection port of the pulmonary artery catheter that resulted in the inability to monitor continuous cardiac output requiring replacement of the catheter. The cause of this abnormal bleeding was later co...

Studies correlating prosthetic valve gradients determined by continuous wave Doppler echocardiography with gradients obtained by cardiac catheterization have, to date, been limited to patients with mitral and tricuspid prostheses or have compared nonsimultaneous measurements. Simultaneous Doppler and catheter pressure gradients in 36 patients (mean age, 63 +/- 13 years) with 42 prosthetic valve...

Peritoneal dialysis catheter ruptures have been managed by immediate removal and subsequent reinsertion of the catheter which inevitably entails interruption in peritoneal dialysis and a need for vascular access. A 36-year-old man on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis complaining of dialysate leakage was found to have a small rupture near the outer cuff of the peritoneal dialysis cathete...

Continuous brachial plexus nerve block catheters are commonly inserted for postoperative analgesia after upper extremity surgery. Modifications of the insertion technique have been described to improve the safety of placing an infraclavicular brachial plexus catheter. Rarely, these catheters may become damaged or entrapped, complicating their removal. We describe a case of infraclavicular brach...

Studies correlating prosthetic valve gradients determined by continuous wave Doppler echocardiography with gradients obtained by cardiac catheterization have, to date, been limited to patients with mitral and tricuspid prostheses or have compared nonsimultaneous measurements. Simultaneous Doppler and catheter pressure gradients in 36 patients (mean age, 63+13 years) with 42 prosthetic valves (2...

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine the incidence of catheter-related infection in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) receiving epoprostenol (EPO), and to note an etiologic role for Micrococcus spp, which is rarely reported as a pathogen in the medical literature. DESIGN Observational study. SETTING Two PAH specialty treatment centers, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (Torrance, CA), a...

Background: The cornerstone of the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is respiratory support and surfactant replacement therapy. The administration of surfactant through a thin intratracheal catheter is one of the methods used to reduce one of the standard technique complications of a surfactant injection (Intubation-Surfactant-Extubation method [INSURE]). The aim of this study wa...