Paediatric cardiac arrest during Hickman line insertion

Abstract

We report a case of four-year-old girl who suffered a cardiac arrest under anaesthesia, due to complete heart block without ventricular escape, during the flushing of an errantly placed longterm central venous catheter. It was subsequently found that the central line was placed in a persistent left superior vena cava (LSVC) draining directly into the coronary sinus. Diagnosis was suspected by a chest x-ray and confirmed by two-dimensional echocardiography. The patient made a complete recovery from the event and was discharged from hospital three days later.