title: Noninvasive evaluation of a cutting balloon entrapped in a left main coronary artery using transesophageal echocardiography.
abstract: There are reports in the literature describing the utility of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in the evaluation of the coronary arteries. Studies have also shown the value of TEE in patients undergoing coronary intervention such as assessing coronary anatomy and flow following angioplasty. We report an interesting case where TEE helped to establish the location of a fractured cutting balloon device lodged in the left main coronary artery and obviated the need for cardiac surgery to remove the fractured balloon catheter. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of this type of complication utilizing a cutting balloon device.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Division, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. guven_hasan@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Güven
authors.forename: Srihari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thanigaraj
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beardslee
mesh_terms: D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015607:Stents