title: Pigtail slip-knot catches the heart.
abstract: An 83-year-old woman had pigtail pericardiocentesis under echo-guidance. The redundancy of pigtail catheter formed a slip-knot which caught the entire heart tightly during removal. Small thoracotomy was necessary to relieve the knot. The extremely rare condition was reported.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Far-Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wen-Po
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Kuan-Ming
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chiu
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D002305:Cardiac Tamponade / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D020878:Device Removal / Q000379:methods*; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D006801:Humans; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D020519:Pericardiocentesis / Q000379:methods*