INADVERTENT INTRACARDIAC ENTRAPMENT OF A SWAN-GANZ CATHETER

A 58-year-old man, admitted with one-vessel coronary disease and aortic valve insufficiency, was scheduled for cardiac surgery. He underwent single coronary bypass grafting and aorta ascendens replacement by a composite graft. During surgery he was monitored by a Swan-Ganz catheter, which had been inserted uneventfully via the right internal jugular vein. Six hours after completion of surgery we were unable to remove this catheter. Fluoroscopy showed intracardiac entrapment of the catheter. Rethoracotomy was performed, revealing entrapment by a suture. The purse-string suture was released, and the catheter was withdrawn without resistance.