Subcutaneous venous port or 'portacath' devices are widely used, especially in oncology patients. Several potential complications of portacath devices have been well documented. We report a rare case of the spontaneous migration of the tip of a portacath into the azygos vein, with subsequent development of a tracheo-azygos fistula. This resulted in the patient receiving a dose of chemotherapy agent and saline directly into his lungs, which ultimately contributed to his death a few weeks later. To our knowledge, there have been only 10 previously reported cases of inadvertent intrathoracic (mediastinal, pleural or pulmonary) extravasation of chemotherapy agent as a result of central venous catheter malposition or perforation; this is the second reported case of extravasation of chemotherapy agent as a result of migration of a portacath device into the azygos vein.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.