Open AccessIatrogenic Perforation of the Left Ventricle during Insertion of a Chest Drain
Author(s) -
Dong-Min Kim,
SeongHoon Lim,
Pil Won Seo
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the korean journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery/daehan hyungbu oe'gwa haghoeji. hyungbu simjang hyeolgwan
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2093-6516
pISSN - 0301-2859
DOI - 10.5090/kjtcs.2013.46.3.223
Subject(s) - medicine , ventricle , thoracotomy , pleural effusion , perforation , surgery , heart failure , complication , catheter , effusion , pericardial effusion , radiology , cardiology , punching , materials science , metallurgy
Chest draining is a common procedure for treating pleural effusion. Perforation of the heart is a rare often fatal complication of chest drain insertion. We report a case of a 76-year-old female patient suffering from congestive heart failure. At presentation, unilateral opacity of the left chest observed on a chest X-ray was interpreted as massive pleural effusion, so an attempt was made to drain the left pleural space. Malposition of the chest drain was suspected because blood was draining in a pulsatile way from the catheter. Computed tomography revealed perforation of the left ventricle. Mini-thoracotomy was performed and the drain extracted successfully.