Project description:Pneumopericardium is defined by the presence of air in the pericardial cavity. It is a rare entity occurring most commonly after trauma. Pneumopericardium resulting after pericardiocentesis is even rarer. We report a case of 46-year-old man, with end-stage renal disease on chronic hemodialysis and who developed a large circumferential pericardial effusion of 40 mm in diastole with swinging heart and diastolic right atrium collapse requiring pericardiocentesis. Few days after, the patient complained of pleuritic chest pain and echocardiogram revealed several tiny sparkling echogenic spots swirling in the pericardial sac. Computed tomography scans revealed a marked anterior pneumopericardium that was conservatively managed.
Project description:BackgroundPericardiocentesis is frequently performed when fluid needs to be removed from the pericardial sac, for both therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, however, it can still be a high-risk procedure in inexperienced hands and/or an emergent setting.Case presentationA 78-year-old male made an emergency call complaining of the back pain. When the ambulance crew arrived at his home, he was in a state of shock due to cardiac tamponade diagnosed by portable echocardiography. The pericardiocentesis was performed using a puncture needle on site, and the patient was immediately transferred to our hospital by helicopter. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed a small protrusion of contrast media on the inferior wall of the left ventricle, suggesting cardiac rupture due to acute myocardial infarction. Emergency coronary angiography was then performed, which confirmed occlusion of the posterior descending branch of the left circumflex coronary artery. In addition, extravasation of contrast medium due to coronary artery perforation was observed in the acute marginal branch of the right coronary artery. We considered that coronary artery perforation had occurred as a complication of the pericardial puncture. We therefore performed transcatheter coil embolization of the perforated branch, and angiography confirmed immediate vessel sealing and hemostasis. After the procedure, the patient made steady progress without a further increase in pericardial effusion, and was discharged on the 50th day after admission.ConclusionsWhen performing pericardial drainage, it is important that the physician recognizes the correct procedure and complications of pericardiocentesis, and endeavors to minimize the occurrence of serious complications. As with the patient presented, coil embolization is an effective treatment for distal coronary artery perforation caused by pericardiocentesis.
Project description:The safety of pericardiocentesis as a therapy for cardiac tamponade has improved since the advent of echocardiography-guided pericardiocentesis. The most life-threatening, albeit rare, complication is injury to the coronary vessels or ventricular wall resulting in recurrent tamponade. We present a rare case of acute marginal artery laceration resulting from pericardiocentesis. (Level of Difficulty: Beginner.).
Project description:Coronary artery intramural hematoma is a rare complication of percutaneous coronary intervention which develops from intimal tear of coronary artery and propagates by blood accumulation along the medial surface of adjacent segment. Fifty-three-year-old male presented with nonexertional chest pain; he was referred after a positive stress test with+ moderate lateral wall ischemia. Coronary angiography showed 80% lesion in mid-left anterior descending artery (mLAD). Angiogram after angioplasty with 2.0 mm × 15 mm balloon and 3.0 mm × 15 mm drug-eluting-stent demonstrated a new stenotic lesion distal to stented mLAD segment. Subsequently, an overlapping 3.0 mm × 30 mm stent was placed with effective restoration of blood flow through LAD. During percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), balloon predilatation can result in plaque fracture and stent deployment may cause intimal tear forming intramural hematoma which can lead to post-PCI myocardial infarction necessitating prompt detection by intravascular imaging with intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography. Management is based on individual patient's characteristics and includes medical therapy, angiographic surveillance or repeat PCI.
Project description:A 73-year-old woman developed abdominal distention, pain with pallor, and hypotension after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention with 1 drug-eluting stent. Emergent blood tests and abdominal imaging confirmed right perirenal hemorrhage. Selective renal angiogram revealed ongoing bleeding from a distal renal artery perforation when her clinical condition deteriorated despite conservative management. A vascular plug device was deployed in a renal branch supplying the bleeding area, because direct access to the perforated distal vessel was not feasible, and successfully stopped the fatal bleeding. This case provides insights into managing iatrogenic renal artery perforations, which is important as renal artery-related interventions become more widespread.
Project description:An 8-month-old female experienced a life-threatening right coronary artery rupture resulting from cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) 1 week after corrective surgery for Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Emergency exploratory thoracotomy was performed due to uncorrectable hemorrhagic shock. During exploration, active bleeding was detected in the anterior branch of the right ventricular coronary artery. After the repair, the patient's condition improved. Coronary artery rupture is an extremely rare complication of CPR. Here, we present a case that provides new reflections and warnings to clinicians.
Project description:Emergent pericardiocentesis is a potentially life-saving therapeutic procedure. We report a case of hemoperitoneum, a rare but known complication of pericardiocentesis; due to hepatic artery laceration and hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm formation resulting in delayed hemorrhagic shock as a complication of emergent pericardiocentesis. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.).
Project description:Endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) continues to remain the gold standard for surveillance of rejection post orthotropic heart transplantation (OHT). It can be performed under fluoroscopic or echocardiographic guidance. In the hands of an experienced operator, the complications of EMB are uncommon with <1% chance of any serious acute complications. Most common complications of EMB include access site-related complications, namely, venous thrombosis, carotid cannulation, hematoma, air embolism, and pneumothorax. We present a case of a rare complication of EMB in a patient with OHT causing a coronary sinus to right coronary artery (RCA) fistula.
Project description:We present the case of a 75-year-old man who experienced rebleeding after surgical treatment of grade III coronary perforation, resulting in intertwined complications including communicating coronary and ventricular pseudoaneurysms. The percutaneous intervention of sealing the rebleeding site with a covered stent implantation managed this rare pseudoaneurysm successfully. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).