Vol 82, No 3 (2024)
Clinical vignette
Published online: 2024-02-23

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CLINICAL VIGNETTE

Aortic complications of coronary angiography

Jacek Piegza1Karolina Anna Konsek1Krzysztof Wilczek1Grzegorz Słonka1Mariusz Gąsior12
13rd Department of Cardiology, Silesian Center for Heart Diseases, Zabrze, Poland
2Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

Correspondence to:

Karolina Konsek, MD,

3rd Department of Cardiology,

Silesian Center for Heart Diseases,

3 Maja 139, Zabrze, Poland,

44–266 Świerklany,

phone: +48 692 806 033,

e-mail: karlakonsek@gmail.com

Copyright by the Author(s), 2024

DOI: 10.33963/v.phj.96755

Received: May 11, 2023

Accepted: July 30, 2023

Early publication date: February 23, 2024

Seventy-four-year-old woman with heart failure, arterial hypertension, chronic kidney disease after coronary artery bypass surgery in 2019 (left internal mammary artery [LIMA] left anterior descending [LAD], saphenous vein graft [SVG] first obtuse marginal [OM1], saphenous vein graft second obtuse marginal [OM2], saphenous vein graft right coronary artery [RCA]) was admitted to the hospital with a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The left ventricular ejection fraction was 50%, non-significant valvular disease was noticed, no evidence of pericardial fluid, the ascending aorta was 46 mm. Coronary angiography showed a significant lesion in the LAD, circumflex, and no significant lesion in the RCA. Bypassography revealed patent SVG to OM1 and OM2 and occluded SVG to RCA and LIMA-LAD graft (the coronary angiography was proceeded using Right Judkins and Right Amplatz catheter to RCA and SVG and Left Judkins catheter to LCA).

Soon after coronary angiography the patient reported chest pain. Again, the echocardiogram was made. Pericardial fluid up to 7 mm was noticed behind the posterior and anterior wall. Size of the ascending aorta was the same. The computed tomography showed the intramural hematoma with 10 mm maximum thickness and blood in the pericardial sac [1, 2]. Conservative treatment was prescribed for several days, due to many comorbidities and elderly age, then at day eleven the computed tomography showed dilation of the ascending aorta up to 50 mm, presence of excessive contrast in the ascending aorta on the large curvature of the aorta at the site of the stump of the SVG to RCA, fluid under the right ventricle and left ventricle. Patient was consulted by the cardiosurgeons and the conservative treatment was still maintained. Patient was on the single antiplatelet medications-acetylsalicylic acid only. After 26 days, stable well-being, patient was discharged home and admitted again after several days.

An echocardiogram visualized progression of the aneurysm. The computed tomography was repeated and there was visible aneurysm at the same location like previously, but with significantly increased diameter up to 58 × 28 × 36 mm [3]. Surgery was conducted and a vascular prosthesis of 28 mm was implanted. The aortic valve was replaced with a Hancock II 21 mm biological prosthesis. Super-coronary anastomosis was performed with replacement of the coronary sinus with a vascular prosthesis. Ultimately during the cardiac surgery the patient was diagnosed with a pseudoaneurysm. Most likely it had been forming as a result of the catheter manipulations in close proximity to the RCA SVG.

Figure 1. A. Admission echocardiography in short axis projection. B. Computed tomography with first signs of an intramural aneurysm. C. Echocardiogram with aneurysm progression after 57 days of hospitali­zation. D. Computed tomography after 57 days of hospitalization. E. 3D reconstruction of aneurysm after 57 days of hospitalization
Article information

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Funding: None.

Open access: This article is available in open access under Creative Common Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, which allows downloading and sharing articles with others as long as they credit the authors and the publisher, but without permission to change them in any way or use them commercially. For commercial use, please contact the journal office at polishheartjournal@ptkardio.pl.

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