title: A different intracardiac mass: retained sponge.
abstract: We report a case involving a surgical sponge retained following an aortic valve replacement. The surgical sponge was placed into the left ventricle to protect calcified debris from falling down into the left ventricular cavity. However, the sponge was forgotten and left inside the patient. We identified the retained surgical sponge by transesophageal echocardiography, which was performed because of a difficulty in weaning the patient from the cardiopulmonary bypass.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Gazi University Medical Faculty, Ankara, Turkey. yimren@gazi.edu.tr
authors.forename: Yildirim
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imren
authors.forename: Irfan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tasoglu
authors.forename: Zerrin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ozkose
mesh_terms: D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000601:surgery*; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors; D008875:Middle Aged; D015503:Surgical Sponges