Acute pulmonary embolectomy three days following a coronary artery bypass graft procedure.
Pulmonary embolism is very rarely reported early after cardiac surgery, most probably due to full heparinisation during cardiopulmonary bypass. We report a 66-year-old man without thromboembolic history who presented three days after a coronary artery bypass grafting procedure with acute dyspnoea and haemodynamic instability. A CT scan confirmed paracentral bilateral pulmonary embolism requiring an urgent and successful embolectomy. Review of the literature confirms that pulmonary embolism may occur in up to 3% of post-cardiopulmonary bypass patients. The possibility of pulmonary embolism must be taken into consideration in post-cardiopulmonary bypass patients with acute onset of chest pain and respiratory insufficiency.
Kuklinski
D
D
Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital, Berne, Switzerland.
Tevaearai
H T
HT
Eckstein
F S
FS
Carrel
T P
TP
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017128:Embolectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000601:surgery*; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods