Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2004;26:830
© 2004 Elsevier Science NL
Images in cardio-thoracic surgery |
Imminent dislodgement of atheromatous aortic plaque during insertion of a balloon catheter prevented by transoesophageal echocardiography
Christos Alexioua*,
Justiaan Swanevelderb,
George Doukasa,
Tom J. Spyta
a Department of Cardiac Surgery, Glenfield General Hospital, Groby Rd, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK
b Department of Cardiac Anaesthesia, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
Received 13 April 2004;
accepted 18 May 2004.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-116-2871471; fax: +44-116-2321282
e-mail: alexiou486{at}aol.com
Key Words: CABG • Balloon catheter • Transoesophageal echocardiography
A 63-year-old male required insertion of an intra-aortic balloon catheter following CABG. Attempts to advance the catheter were met with mild resistance. Transoesophageal echocardiography showed a large atheromatous aortic plaque (Fig. 1)
, raised by the catheter (Fig. 2)
. In order to avoid dislodgement of the aortic plaque, the procedure was terminated.
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Fig. 1. Transoesophageal echocardiogram showing the tip of the balloon catheter approaching a large atheromatous plaque within the descending aorta.
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Fig. 2. Transoesophageal echocardiogram showing the advanced tip of the balloon catheter raising the atheromatous plaque from the aortic wall.
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