Key result
A fractured section of an inferior vena cava filter migrated to the right ventricle, causing perforation and cardiac tamponade in a 53-year-old male, requiring emergent surgical retrieval.
Case Report (n=1)
No
Highlights a rare but life-threatening complication of IVC filters involving fracture, migration to the right ventricle, and subsequent cardiac tamponade.
Alerts clinicians to consider IVC filter complications in tamponade; leaves open questions on retrieval timing and device safety.
A 53-year-old male presented to the emergency room with acute cardiopulmonary compromise. Echocardiography revealed cardiac tamponade. The patient was taken emergently for surgery and a 28 gauge wire of 1.5 cm was retrieved from his right ventricle. A section had fractured from the inferior vena cava (IVC) filter and migrated to the right ventricle, causing perforation and tamponade. Very few cases of fractured IVC filters that have migrated to the heart, and even fewer cases causing cardiac tamponade, have been described. The risk factors that cause migration of IVC filters need to be further elucidated.
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Chandra et al. (2008) conducted a case report in Cardiac tamponade (n=1). Surgical retrieval was evaluated. A fractured section of an inferior vena cava filter migrated to the right ventricle, causing perforation and cardiac tamponade in a 53-year-old male, requiring emergent surgical retrieval.
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