Free-floating right heart thrombi are extremely mobile structures that carry a very high mortality rate. We describe a case of pulmonary embolism with a free-floating right heart thrombus that migrated to the superior vena cava during the institution of cardiopulmonary bypass.
TorbickiAGaliéNCovezzoliARossiEDe RosaMGoldhaberSZ. Right heart thrombi in pulmonary embolism: results from the International Cooperative Pulmonary Embolism Registry. J Am Coll Cardiol2003; 41: 2245–2251.
2.
ChapoutotLNazeyrollasPMetzDMaesDMaillierBJennesseauxC. Floating right heart thrombi and pulmonary embolism: diagnosis, outcome and therapeutic management. Cardiology1996; 87: 169–174.
3.
RosePSPunjabiNMPearseDB. Treatment of right heart thromboemboli. Chest2002; 121: 806–814.
4.
ChartierLBéraJDelomezMAssemanPBeregiJPBauchartJJ. Free-floating thrombi in the right heart: diagnosis, management, and prognostic indexes in 38 consecutive patients. Circulation1999; 99: 2779–2783.
5.
GrecoFBisignaniGSerafiniOGuzzoDStingoneAPlastinaF. Successful treatment of right heart thromboemboli with IV recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator during continuous echocardiographic monitoring: a case series report. Chest1999; 116: 78–82.
6.
The European Cooperative Study on the clinical significance of right heart thrombi. European Working Group on Echocardiography. Eur Heart J1989; 10: 1046–1059.
7.
GoldhaberSZVisaniLDe RosaM. Acute pulmonary embolism: clinical outcomes in the International Cooperative Pulmonary Embolism Registry (ICOPER). Lancet1999; 353: 1386–1389.
8.
SadeghiABrevettiGRKimSBurackJHGenoveseMHDistantDA. Acute massive pulmonary embolism: role of the cardiac surgeon. Tex Heart Inst J2005; 32: 430–433.