title: Splenic infarction: a complication of cardiac catheterization.
abstract: Patients with extensive atherosclerosis are at increased risk of developing embolic complications during cardiac catheterization. We describe a 51-year-old man with unstable angina and bilateral leg claudication who developed fever and right upper abdominal pain shortly after cardiac catheterization. Liver-spleen scintigraphy demonstrated a wedge-shaped filling defect compatible with splenic infarction, and serial scans performed over a period of five months showed resolution of this finding. Splenic infarction tends to be under-diagnosed, and physicians should be aware of this potentially serious complication of cardiac catheterization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dinour
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chisin
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013159:Splenic Infarction / Q000209:etiology*