A case of coronary artery air embolism in a transplanted heart during cardiac allograft vasculopathy surveillance angiography

Authors

  • Jeffrey F Spindel Department of Internal Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA
  • Vikas Singh Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40202 , USA
  • Mohammad Mathbout Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40202 , USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21542/gcsp.2021.23

Abstract

Coronary air embolism is a rare iatrogenic complication during invasive coronary angiography or angioplasty that can cause acute chest pain, hypotension, ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, and even death. We present a case of left anterior descending coronary artery air embolization in a 58-year-old heart transplant patient that occurred during cardiac allograft vasculopathy surveillance angiography. The patient was managed successfully with rapid coronary injections of heparinized saline, catheter disengagement to increase coronary blood flow, and supplementation of 100% oxygen to dissolve the coronary air embolus. This case highlights this rare complication of coronary angiography, importance of prompt recognition of the pathology and subsequent management.

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Published

2021-10-17

Issue

Vol. 2021 No. 3 (2021)

Section

Images in cardiology

License

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.