Percutaneous central venous catheters are widely used in the neonatal intensive care units, particularly in very low weight premature infants. Pericardial effusion associated with the use of percutaneous central venous catheter is a rare life-threatening complication that can be reduced, but not excluded, by regularly checking the catheter position. Here, we report a premature infant who developed pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade as a complication of a percutaneous central venous catheter. In this report, we emphasize that cardiac tamponade should be kept in mind in any infant with a percutaneous central venous catheter who suddenly develops shock-like symptoms. Timely diagnosis and drainage of pericardial effusion by pericardiocentesis have been proven to be life-saving.

Keywords: perkütan santral venöz katater, prematürite, perikardiyal efüzyon, kalp tamponadı.