FATAL OUTCOME OF JUGULAR-VEIN CANNULATION

We describe the case of a woman who had cannulation of the internal ju gular vein for the placement of a hemodialysis catheter. The procedure was unsuccessful and resulted in a retropharyngeal hematoma, which in turn caused severe compression on a carotid artery that was already s everely narrowed by atherosclerosis, This resulted in massive cerebral hemispheric infarction and death, During the course of hospitalizatio n, ultrasonography, computed tomography, and angiographic studies were done, Cannulation of neck vessels in patients with bleeding diatheses must be done with caution, especially in the presence of severe steno tic disease of the carotid arteries.