silicon and Hypertension--Pulmonary

Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) are widely used in oncology for administration of chemotherapy. However, sometimes there may be complications associated with them such as infections, thrombosis and rarely fracture of catheter and embolization of the catheter fragments. Here we report a case of 59-year old gentleman with locally advanced carcinoma of head of pancreas, who had spontaneous fracture of a silicon based PICC and later migration of the catheter fragment through the heart and further into the right pulmonary arterial system. The embolized catheter fragment was retrieved through a vascular snare from the right femoral venous route. This case highlights the fact that silicon PICCs are fragile and have a high risk of spontaneous dislodgement and should be replaced by better alternative polyurethane PICCs.

Topics: Catheter-Related Infections; Catheterization, Central Venous; Catheterization, Peripheral; Central Venous Catheters; Humans; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Male; Middle Aged; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Silicon

An infant dying with pulmonary hypertension had a pulmonary vessel foreign body vasculitis as identified by light microscopy and characterized ultrastructurally by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray analysis. The inclusions were of two distinct types: those containing silicon and titanium, and others consisting of talc. The possible sources of these inclusions and the importance of considering foreign body vasculitis in the pathogenesis of clinically idiopathic pulmonary hypertension are discussed.

Topics: Humans; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Newborn, Diseases; Lung Diseases; Male; Silicon; Talc; Titanium; Vasculitis

Topics: Carbon; Hypertension; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Silicon