An infrequent complication of Swan-Ganz catheters
Racionero, M.A.; Prados, C.; Acitores, I.; Lazaro-Carrasco, M.T.; Alvarez-Sala, R.
Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery 36(5): 519-520
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-9509 PMID: 8522576 Document Number: 441982
The Swan-Ganz catheter complications are infrequent, the most typical one being cardiac arrhythmias. The breaking and embolization of a catheter fragment into the pulmonary vascular system are exceptional and, in any case, benign. We present a patient with severe pulmonary hypertension to the embolization of a Swan-Ganz catheter fragment into the right pulmonary artery which disappeared with the movements of the fragment to the lung periphery.