Fatal pulmonary embolism after atrial septal defect closure in a paediatric patient.
A four-year-old girl died of massive acute bilateral pulmonary embolism 11 days after direct closure of a secundum atrial septal defect (ASD II), despite postoperative anticoagulation until the patient was ambulatory. An autopsy showed thrombotic deposits on the suture line of the ASD closure, bilateral 90% occlusion of the pulmonary arteries, and haemorrhagic ulcerative ischaemic colitis of the descending colon and the sigmoid.
Busch
T
T
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Germany. tbusch@gwdg.de
Lotfi
S
S
Sirbu
H
H
Aleksic
I
I
Ruschewski
W
W
D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000601:surgery*; D006493:Heparin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000925:Anticoagulants; D006493:Heparin