Cor Vasa 2007, 49(12):460-462 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2007.160

A rare neurological complication after a cardiac surgical procedure

Ingrid Porubčinová, František Sabol, Jana Jevčáková

Kardiochirurgické oddelenie, Východoslovenský ústav srdcových a cievnych chorôb a. s., Košice, Slovenská republika

The authors describe the case of a 61-year-old man with several diseases, admitted to a department of cardiac surgery to undergo elective revascularization for multiple-vessel disease. In the early postoperative period, the patient was shown to have suffered a perioperative myocardial infarction. Massive pharmacotherapy and mechanical cardiac support were required to stabilize the patient s condition. After extubation, the patient s state was again complicated by dysphonia and dysphagia. Given the progression of these conditions, we started an extensive differential diagnosis process (chest x-ray, examination of the ear, nose and neck, gastroscopy, fibrobronchoscopy, and neurological assessment). It was not until brain CT had been performed that an area of malacia, supplied by the posterior cerebral artery in the right-side brain stem region was identified, explaining the difficulty swallowing as part of the pseudobulbar syndrome.

Keywords: Pseudobulbar syndrome; Microembolism; Hypoperfusion; Extracorporal circuit; Neurological deficiency

Published: December 1, 2007  Show citation