Massive Air Embolism During Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

Duc H. Do, MD; Houman Khakpour, MD; Yuliya Krokhaleva, MD; Shumpei Mori, MD, PhD; Jason Bradfield, MD; Noel G. Boyle, MD, PhD; Kalyanam Shivkumar, MD, PhD

JACC: Case Reports (Jan 2021)

Massive Air Embolism During Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

Duc H. Do, MD,
Houman Khakpour, MD,
Yuliya Krokhaleva, MD,
Shumpei Mori, MD, PhD,
Jason Bradfield, MD,
Noel G. Boyle, MD, PhD,
Kalyanam Shivkumar, MD, PhD

Affiliations

Duc H. Do, MD: Address for correspondence: Dr. Duc H. Do, UCLA Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, UCLA Health System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 100 UCLA Medical Plaza, Suite 660, Los Angeles California 90095-7392, USA.; University of California Los Angeles Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, UCLA Health System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Houman Khakpour, MD: University of California Los Angeles Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, UCLA Health System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Yuliya Krokhaleva, MD: University of California Los Angeles Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, UCLA Health System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Shumpei Mori, MD, PhD: University of California Los Angeles Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, UCLA Health System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Jason Bradfield, MD: University of California Los Angeles Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, UCLA Health System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Noel G. Boyle, MD, PhD: University of California Los Angeles Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, UCLA Health System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
Kalyanam Shivkumar, MD, PhD: University of California Los Angeles Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, UCLA Health System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 3, no. 1
pp. 47 – 52

Abstract

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A 62-year-old male with symptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation. During exchange of the saline irrigation bag, the patient developed sudden hypotension and bradycardia and was found to have a massive air embolism. Air was successfully aspirated with catheters, and the patient did not suffer any permanent sequelae. (Level of Difficulty: Intermediate.)

Published in JACC: Case Reports

ISSN: 2666-0849 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Specialties of internal medicine: Diseases of the circulatory (Cardiovascular) system
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/jacc-case-reports

About the journal

Abstract

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