Pulmonary complications of umbilical venous catheters.

Umbilical venous catheters that are pushed in too far will usually cross the atrial septum and may dislodge in a pulmonary vein. The authors report eight neonates with radiographic documentation of this catheter malposition together with either a localized pulmonary opacification or an autopsy report of a pulmonary hemorrhage or infarction corresponding to the catheter position. The lung injury ranged from a transient edema to hemorrhagic pulmonary infarction and hydrothorax. In two cases autopsy demonstrated localized infarction without previous radiographic signs of catheter-related injury.