A case report of life-threatening hemothorax after percutaneous lung biopsy successfully managed with embolization

Ola Furmaga-Rokou, MD; Antonios Michailidis, MD; Georgios Dimou, MD; Panagiotis Kosmolaptsis, MD; Sofia Zlika, MD; Christos Giankoulof, MD; Evangelos Petsatodis, PhD, MD; Stavros Galanis, MD

Radiology Case Reports (Sep 2023)

A case report of life-threatening hemothorax after percutaneous lung biopsy successfully managed with embolization

Ola Furmaga-Rokou, MD,
Antonios Michailidis, MD,
Georgios Dimou, MD,
Panagiotis Kosmolaptsis, MD,
Sofia Zlika, MD,
Christos Giankoulof, MD,
Evangelos Petsatodis, PhD, MD,
Stavros Galanis, MD

Affiliations

Ola Furmaga-Rokou, MD: Interventional Radiology Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki, Polikleitou Regou 15, Thessaloniki, 54646, Greece
Antonios Michailidis, MD: Corresponding author.; Interventional Radiology Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki, Polikleitou Regou 15, Thessaloniki, 54646, Greece
Georgios Dimou, MD: Interventional Radiology Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki, Polikleitou Regou 15, Thessaloniki, 54646, Greece
Panagiotis Kosmolaptsis, MD: Interventional Radiology Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki, Polikleitou Regou 15, Thessaloniki, 54646, Greece
Sofia Zlika, MD: Interventional Radiology Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki, Polikleitou Regou 15, Thessaloniki, 54646, Greece
Christos Giankoulof, MD: Interventional Radiology Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki, Polikleitou Regou 15, Thessaloniki, 54646, Greece
Evangelos Petsatodis, PhD, MD: Interventional Radiology Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki, Polikleitou Regou 15, Thessaloniki, 54646, Greece
Stavros Galanis, MD: Interventional Radiology Department, G. Papanikolaou General Hospital Thessaloniki, Polikleitou Regou 15, Thessaloniki, 54646, Greece

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 18, no. 9
pp. 2939 – 2942

Abstract

Read online

CT-guided lung biopsy is a widely used procedure for tissue identification. The complications are divided into minor and major with the latter being described as low rate. Hemothorax is reported at a rate of 0.092% and predominantly results from the injury of intercostals or internal mammary arteries. We present the case of 81-year old woman with a right upper lobe mass referred for a CT-guided biopsy. Four hours after the procedure, rapid deterioration of patient's status was observed. A massive hemothorax was reported due to the transection of an intratumoral pulmonary branch. The following management involved successful emergent embolization of the injured branch of the pulmonary artery using a combination of coils and gel foam. One of the theories possibly explaining this extremely rare complication involves the possibility of underlying pulmonary hypertension.

Published in Radiology Case Reports

ISSN: 1930-0433 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Medicine (General): Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/radiology-case-reports/

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords