title: Catheter inside the right heart for 22 years: to intervene or not to intervene?
abstract: Treatment of a central venous catheter emboli that has been asymptomatic for a number of years is controversial. A 56-year-old male patient who had an operation for sinus Valsalva aneurism rupture 22 years ago was referred to cardiology department for routine control. He had a mass inside the right heart on echocardiographic examination, and computed tomography revealed that this mass was an embolic piece of catheter. Catheters that have stayed inside the heart for a long time are removed due to the risk of distal embolisation and endocarditis, but the risk of removal is not known. Non-invasive follow-up of asymptomatic patients is often preferred because of the stabilisation of the embolised catheter due to endothelisation and the risk of complications during removal. Treatment of patients with catheter-piece emboli who are asymptomatic should be individualised, taking into account the risk of thrombosis, arrhythmia, and infection.
authors.affiliation: Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tolga
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Çimen
authors.affiliation: Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doğan
authors.affiliation: Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akyel
authors.affiliation: Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ekrem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yeter
keywords: catheter embolus; central venous catheter
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