A 43-year-old woman presented with gunshot wounds to the neck, chest, and left thigh. Computed tomography of the neck and chest with intravenous contrast revealed a left common carotid pseudoaneurysm and a foreign body in the right atrium. Preoperative chest x-ray and CT scan confirmed a metallic foreign body in the right heart. At median sternotomy, the intracardiac foreign body could not be located using fluoroscopy. The foreign body (bullet) was subsequently removed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory using a percutaneous transvenous basket extraction through a right femoral vein cutdown.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BestI.M.Transfemoral extraction of an intracardiac bullet embolus.Am Surg2001; 67: 361–3.
2.
O'NeillP.J., FeldmanD.R., VujicI., ByrneT.K.Trans-jugular extraction of bullet embolus to the heart.Mil Med1996; 161: 360–1.
Van ArsdellG.S., RazzoukA.J., FandrichB.L.Bullet fragment venous embolus to the heart: Case report.J Trauma1991; 31: 137–9.
7.
SymbasP.N., SymbasP.J.Missiles in the cardiovascular system.Chest Surg Clin N Am1997; 7: 343–56.
8.
AmselB.J., Van der MastM., De BockL.The importance of two-dimensional echocardiography in the location of a bullet embolus to the right ventricle.Ann Thorac Surg1988; 46: 102–3.
