Massive air embolus treated with rheolytic thrombectomy.

The incidence of air embolism during diagnostic cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention is reported at a rate of 0.84% and 0.24%. Although there is no optimal technique to restore blood flow after blockage by air emboli, treatment options include manual aspiration or forcefully injecting saline, with auxiliary supportive measures like 100% oxygen or an intra-aortic balloon pump. The AngioJet (Possis Medical, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota) device is a catheter-based device for thrombus removal in which high-velocity saline jets are used to create a localized low-pressure zone at the distal catheter tip (Bernoulli effect), resulting in the maceration and removal of thrombus through an exhaust lumen. The use of rheolytic thrombectomy has been studied in thrombus-containing native coronary arteries as well as saphenous vein graft lesions. We report a case of a massive air embolus that occurred after activation of an AngioJet catheter in a thrombus-laden right coronary artery (RCA). The AngioJet catheter was then utilized to effectively aspirate the air embolus with restoration of coronary blood flow. Use of a guiding catheter that is nonocclusive or with side holes to ensure continuous blood flow from the central aorta may help avoid entrainment of air into the coronary artery during activation of the AngioJet thrombectomy catheter. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of such a potential complication. In the event of such a complication, the AngioJet catheter can be implemented to aspirate a coronary air embolus.