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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2019; 29(01): 81-84
DOI: 10.4103/ijri.IJRI_347_18
Case Report

Coronary artery air embolism complicating a CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy

Ashwin Deshmukh
Department of Radiology, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Nirav Kadavani
Department of Radiology, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Ritu Kakkar
Department of Radiology, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Shrinivas Desai
Department of Radiology, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Ganapathi M Bhat
Department of Medical Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
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Abstract

Coronary arterial air embolism is an extremely rare but readily recognizable condition on computed tomography (CT) that may complicate a lung biopsy. We present an incidence of symptomatic air embolism into the right coronary artery during a percutaneous CT-guided lung biopsy that was successfully recognized during the procedure and managed accordingly. An active search for this complication should be made when the patient deteriorates on table and the usual complications (pneumothorax, vasovagal shock, etc.) are ruled out, as immediate resuscitative measures could be life-saving.

Keywords

Air embolism - coronary artery - interventional radiology - lung biopsy - thoracic imaging


Publication History

Article published online:
23 July 2021

© 2019. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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