Femoral vein access by contrast-guided puncture in cardiac catheterization in patients under one year of age.

We present a simple method to gain femoral vein access for cardiac catheterization in newborns and infants. After contrast injection into a short saphenous vein the femoral vein can be easily punctured under fluoroscopy of the groin. Compared to the landmark-guided technique of palpation of the femoral artery, this method shortened the time for venous access significantly in comparisons of two groups of patients <1 year of age who underwent right heart catheterization by either of these two techniques during a 6-year period.