Nurefsan OKYAY, Damla HASGUL, Tibet Ugur KURAK, Erhan AYAN
Current Thoracic Surgery - 2026;11(2):184-189
Currently, the increase in the population of patients with malignancies has led to a rise in the use of chemotherapeutic treatments. Due to the thrombophlebitic effects of chemotherapeutic agents, temporarily established vascular access routes gradually lose their functionality. Therefore, clinicians increasingly prefer central venous port placement in this patient group. Central venous port placement offers advantages such as multi-drug administration, rapid fluid resuscitation, administration of chemotherapeutic agents, and parenteral nutrition. However, since it is an invasive procedure, various complications can occur in both the early and late stages. Early complications include carotid artery injury, catheter malposition, hydrothorax, pneumothorax, air embolism, tracheobronchial injury, and nerve damage. Late complications include infections, thrombophlebitis, and, in rare cases, catheter malpositioning. In this report, we aimed to present the management of a complicated catheter-related complication in a patient who underwent central venous port placement for radical chemotherapy due to pancreatic malignancy and was subsequently diagnosed with mediastinal aspergilloma during follow-up. After antifungal therapy, follow-up evaluation revealed erosion of the right main bronchus by the port catheter, resulting in penetration of the catheter into the bronchial lumen.
