Central venous catheter complications

In Reply.— We thank Hoelzer and L9Hommedieu for their comments and for pointing out that subclavian catheters are capable of lasting as long as the percutaneously placed central Silastic catheter (PCSC).1,2 The median duration for PCSC usage in our series3 was 21 days. For us, the diagnosis of superior vena cava syndrome is only suspected in the presence of differential upper body edema. The diagnosis of right atrial thrombosis is not likely to be made by us without clinical signs of venous obstruction as echocardiograms are not routinely performed.