Compelling argument for an agitated saline bubble study prior to cardiac transplantation.
Cardiac transplant recipients with patent foramen ovale (PFO) are at risk for right-to-left shunting. Failure to identify this abnormality can have serious posttransplant consequences. In this article, we describe a cardiac transplant recipient with hypoxemia where a PFO was diagnosed postoperatively despite direct surgical investigation at the time of orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). Transthoracic echocardiography with bubble study is relatively inexpensive, noninvasive, and simple and can be a useful method to identify PFO/atrial septal defect. Thus, authors recommend critically screening both donor and recipient hearts prior to OHT.
Kalra
Nishant
N
Sarver Heart Center, University of Arizona, 1501 N Campbell Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA. nkalra_dr@yahoo.com
Amabile
Orazio L
OL
Copeland
Jack G
JG
Sorrell
Vincent L
VL
D003287:Contrast Media; D004452:Echocardiography; D054092:Foramen Ovale, Patent / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000209:etiology; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; D008297:Male; D045423:Microbubbles; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D014019:Tissue Donors
D003287:Contrast Media; D012965:Sodium Chloride