BJA Advance Access originally published online on May 23, 2007
British Journal of Anaesthesia 2007 99(2):221-225; doi:10.1093/bja/aem099
Probable right atrial thrombus immediately after recombinant activated factor VII administration
Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Butterfield Street, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland 4006, Australia
* Corresponding author. E-mail: georgepang{at}hotmail.com
We report the finding of a probable right atrial thrombus in a 33-yr-old male patient with severe head, chest, and abdominal trauma. Refractory coagulopathy and gross haemodynamic instability ensued, which was only partially controlled with massive blood product transfusion and high-dose inotropic support during laparotomy. Continuous transoesophageal echocardiography revealed a probable atrial thrombus partially occluding the right ventricular inflow tract, which appeared immediately after the patient received 100 µg kg–1 of recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) via a left internal jugular central line. This is the first report documenting an immediate temporal relationship between rFVIIa administration and a space-occupying lesion compatible with localized thrombosis, despite ongoing severe systemic coagulopathy. We review the clinical use of rFVIIa and discuss possible factors contributing to this event.
Keywords: complications, thrombosis; complications, trauma; embolism, thromboembolism; transfusion, complications; safety, drug
Read all E-letters![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
E-letters: