Thrombosis of the superior vena cava due to a central catheter for total parenteral nutrition.

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) today is a fundamental procedure in the treatment of critically ill patients, especially if they have serious gastrointestinal diseases. However, use of the central venous catheter is connected with a very important morbidity. At the "Istituto di Patologia Chirurgica" and at the "Intensive Care Unit" of the University of Ferrara, we analyzed 59 cases of deaths from different diseases, on whom a postmortem examination had been performed. Twenty-seven patients had had no central venous catheter: none of them presented thrombosis of the central veins. Thirty-two patients had had a central venous catheter for TPN: five of them presented thrombosis of the central veins at the post-mortem examination. Except for one case who had thrombosis connected with a carcinoma of the right main bronchus, four cases (12.9%) presented thrombosis due to the central venous catheter. The subclavian vein seems to be more commonly connected with thrombosis than the jugular vein.