Air embolism during needle placement for CT-guided radiofrequency ablation of an unresectable metastatic lung lesion.
Percutaneous computed tomographic (CT)-guided radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a minimally invasive and promising procedure for unresectable lung tumors. In general, the procedure is safe and its complications are minor. A few cases of serious complications, however, have been reported. The authors report on a case of air embolism during electrode insertion into a metastatic lung tumor. The patient became unresponsive; however, he recovered 10 minutes later and the air embolism disappeared spontaneously. Although air embolism during RF ablation of a lung tumor is a rare complication, radiologists performing the percutaneous procedure should be aware of this complication and be familiar with the appropriate management.
Department of Radiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan. o-kuma@msic.med.osaka-cu.ac.jp
Tomohisa
T
Okuma
Toshiyuki
T
Matsuoka
Shinichi
S
Tutumi
Kenji
K
Nakmura
Yuichi
Y
Inoue
D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D009339:Needles; D015641:Radiography, Interventional; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed