Technique
Power Hour Breakout
The intracavitary ECG technique for tip location (IC-ECG) was developed 70 years ago in Germany. The history of its application in clinical practice is very long and complex: it moved very slowly from Europe to the rest of the world and at the same time it proved to be safe, accurate and cost-effective in a wide spectrum of clinical situations, from short to long term central venous access devices, from adults to neonates, from dialysis to oncology and intensive care. A vast literature of scientific studies have demonstrated the advantages of IC-ECG tip location if compared to x-ray-based tip location, but some resistance stills remains preventing its widespread clinical application. This may be secondary to a diffuse misconception which confuses the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of the IC-ECG per se with the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of specific devices that adopt IC-ECG. At the end of the history of IC-ECG, we will discuss the two latest novelties of IC-ECG, i.e. the modified IC-ECG technique for tip location of central lines in atrial fibrillation patients and the modified IC-ECG for tip navigation.