Upper Extremity Radionuclide Venography in the Diagnosis and Management of Venous Disease Associated with Intravenous Catheters

The utility of upper extremity radionuclide venography (RNV) in the assessment of suspected catheter-related central venous thrombosis (CRVT) was evaluated in 40 patients with subclavian venous catheters. Twenty normal patients (Group A) served as controls and their venographic patterns were analyzed by using four criteria: (1) delayed tracer transit time, (2) nonuniformity of flow and venous pooling, (3) jugular venous reflux, and (4) collateral venous filling. Control studies displayed no collaterals as a distinguishing characteristic but demonstrated the other three features to a variable degree. Of 106 extremities suspected of CRVT, 67 (Group B) were initially considered to have normal RNV findings (no collaterals). Contrast venography confirmed a normal pattern in 3 but identified CRVT with collaterals in 3 others. Retrospective review of the RNV studies confirmed faint collaterals in these latter 3. The 39 remaining extremities (Group C) showed abnormal RNV findings; contrast venography and postmortem studies confirmed the presence of venous disease in 5 patients. The authors believe that RNV is a reliable, noninvasive procedure for early diagnosis of venous occlusion associated with subclavian venous catheters.