Cor Vasa 2005, 46(9):342-344

Paradoxical renal and splenic embolism in a patient with pulmonary embolism, patent foramen ovale and right atrial embedded embolus.

Pavel Franc^1,*, Jiří Kvasnička¹, Petr Vojtíšek¹, Dušan Spitzer², Jan Harrer³

¹ Kardiologické oddělení, Interní klinika

² Radiodiagnostické oddělení, Krajská nemocnice Pardubice, Pardubice

³ Kardiochirurgická klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Česká republika

n patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO), pulmonary embolism (PE) is associated with a risk for paradoxical embolism. Patients with PFO and PE show higher mortality rates and higher of brain and arterial embolism rates compared with PE patients not demonstrating echocardiographic signs of PFO. The prognosis of PE patients is made further worse by the presence of flowing right atrial thrombi. The present case report describes a 43-year-old man hospitalized for mesogastric pain and dyspnoe with subsequent evidence of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, free right atrial thrombosis and renal and splenic embolism. The condition was managed successfully by removing thrombi from the right atrium, emboli from the main pulmonary artery branches and by suturing the foramen ovale.

Keywords: Pulmonary embolism; Patent foramen ovale; Paradoxical embolism

Published: September 1, 2005  Show citation