To the Editor:
I wish to congratulate the authors of the paper “A Retrospective Analysis of the Clinical Effectiveness of Supraclavicular, Ultrasound-guided Brachiocephalic Vein Cannulation in Preterm Infants.”1 Anyone who has been involved with low-birth-weight newborns know that cardiac tamponade is a real and deadly complication caused by a central line placement. This dilemma is caused by the catheter tip getting lodged in the pericardial sack; the resultant infusion of the intravenous fluids causes the tamponade.2–4 The reported incidence is between 0.07% and 2%.4 This complication was not mentioned by the authors.
Their retrospective review of their central venous line insertion technique would seem to be a great step forward in making central venous catheter placement in this group of patients safer. Prospective studies, as mentioned by the authors, must be done to ascertain the real short-term and long-term safety of this technique.
Competing Interests
The author declares no competing interests.
