Off-pump open pulmonary embolectomy for major bilateral pulmonary emboli: report of a case.
Acute massive or submassive pulmonary artery thromboembolism causes sudden hemodynamic deterioration, warranting immediate surgery. We report the case of a 67-year-old woman who suffered a syncopal attack resulting in shock, 3 weeks after undergoing orthopedic surgery. Preoperative radiologic imaging studies, including a lung perfusion scan, chest scan, and venography, showed a major bilateral pulmonary artery embolism (PE) originating from a leg vein. An inferior vena cava filter was inserted preoperatively during the venography. We performed an open pulmonary embolectomy without cardiopulmonary bypass by using a submammary trans-sternal bilateral thoracotomy approach. The patient recovered uneventfully and has been well for 13 months.
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Kangnam St. Mary Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, 505 Banpo-dong, Socho-ku, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea.
Seok-Whan
SW
Moon
Keon-Hyeon
KH
Jo
Young-Pil
YP
Wang
Young-Kyun
YK
Kim
Oo-Kyeong
OK
Kwon
D000368:Aged; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D017128:Embolectomy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000601:surgery*