[Removal of a broken silastic catheter with a "snare"-catheter in a neonate].

Silastic central catheters inserted peripherally are used in neonatology since more than 20 years. Typical complications include catheter associated infection, thrombosis and malposition. Pericardial effusion, fracture and embolisation are rare. We report the case of a female newborn with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. A silastic catheter was inserted in the left cubital vein. The catheter ruptured when the obviously occluded lumen was flushed with saline. A 15 cm long catheter fragment located in the right ventricle and pulmonary artery was removed after cardiac catheterization with a "Snare"-catheter.