[Safe placement of atrial shunt catheters using intracardiac ECG. Initial experiences with a new ECG adapter system in 33 patients].

In 1960 Robinson inaugurated the method of placing atrial shunt catheters with the help of intracardiac ECG monitoring. Vulnerability to artifacts and problems with electrical safety (which have since been solved) led to its disuse. A newly developed ECG adapter proved free from artifacts and was practicable in 33 patients. 31 shunts were correctly placed without requiring time-consuming radiography. 2 extracardiac false positions were clearly identifiable by means of true negative results, which after correction showed a typical atrial ECG. The ECG method is compared with 9 other positioning methods. It seems to be superior to the conventional chest x-ray and equal to fluoroscopy. However, the method is not on a par with sophisticated measuring techniques such as intracardiac pressure monitoring or intravasal sonography.