A 71-year-old female patient was referred for catheter ablation of drug-refractory, symptomatic atrial fibrillation. Initial intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) incidentally showed a mobile embolus stuck at a bifurcation of the right pulmonary artery. The procedure was suspended and the finding was subsequently confirmed by computed tomography pulmonary angiography. This case illustrates a potential value of real-time imaging by ICE during invasive procedures.
Stefan Asbach, Jürgen Biermann, Philipp Blanke, Gregor Pache, Christoph Bode, and Thomas S Faber.
Medizinische Klinik III, Kardiologie und Angiologie, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Hugstetter Str 55, 79106 Freiburg, Germany. stefan.asbach@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Europace. 2010 Aug 1; 12 (8): 1199-200.
AbstractA 71-year-old female patient was referred for catheter ablation of drug-refractory, symptomatic atrial fibrillation. Initial intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) incidentally showed a mobile embolus stuck at a bifurcation of the right pulmonary artery. The procedure was suspended and the finding was subsequently confirmed by computed tomography pulmonary angiography. This case illustrates a potential value of real-time imaging by ICE during invasive procedures.