Nutrition
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Cardiac tamponade is a serious complication of central venous catheter (CVC) insertion. The position of the carina has been shown to be near the pericardial reflection and can easily be identified as a landmark on routine chest x-ray (CXR). The purpose of this study was to show a simple way to predict optimal CVC depth, thereby facilitating safe positioning of the CVC tip. ⋯ The appropriate length of CVC inserted through the right internal jugular vein or right subclavian vein could be estimated by the calculated measurement of adding half the length of the right clavicle and the vertical length between the sternal head of the right clavicle and the carina.