Umbilical catheter placement and pericardial effusion in neonates: The US national database

Abstract We aimed to assess the association of umbilical catheters placement with pericardial effusion (PCE) in newborn infants after controlling for confounding variables. We analyzed three subpopulations: infants with birth weight (BW) > 2500g, infants with BW < 1500g, and infants with congenital heart diseases (CHD). We utilized the US-National Inpatient Sample dataset (1997–2012). First analysis included a 22,822,931 infants with BW > 2500g with no hydrops fetalis. Of them, 2583 neonates (0.01%) had PCE. PCE was found in 0.33% of infants with UAC only, 0.22% of infants with UVC only and 0.37% of infants with both catheters (aOR = 2.7, CI:2.4–3.2, p < 0.001), aOR = 2.8, CI: 2.3–3.5, p < 0.001), and aOR = 2.8, CI: 2.4–3.2, p < 0.001), respectively. The second analysis included a 200,288 infants with CHD and BW > 2500g. Of them, 1130 (0.56%) had PCE. PCE was found in 1.46% of infants with UAC, 0.78% of infants with UVC and 0.98% of infants with both catheters (aOR = 2.1, CI:1.8–2.6, p < 0.001), aOR = 1.4, CI:1.1–1.9, p = 0.036) and a OR = 1.6, CI:1.3–1.9, p < 0.001), respectively. While, a total of 1,187,727 infants with BW < 1500g were included in the third analysis. Of them, 1667 (0.14%) had PCE. PCE was found in 0.15% of infants with UAC, 0.19% of infants with UVC and 0.26% of infants with both catheters. (aOR = 1.1, CI: 0.9–1.3, p < 0.90), aOR = 1.4, CI: 1.2–1.7, p < 0.001) and aOR = 1.6, CI:1.4–1.8, p < 0.001), respectively. Conclusion: Central umbilical catheters are associated with increased risk for pericardial effusion and they may be independently associated with the occurrence of pericardial effusion in infants with congenital heart disease.