Atrial Thrombosis Induced by Percutaneous Central Venous Catheter: A Potential Hazard during Cardiac Surgery Diagnosed by Intra-operative Transoesophageal Echo

A number of recent case reports have highlighted the value of the transoesophageal echocardiogram (TOE) in the intra-operative setting and demonstrated its diagnostic power to be beyond that of other monitoring modalities in a variety of circumstances'·3. The importance is underscored where the information gathered dictates a change in patient management. We describe a case where a centrally directed longterm IV catheter leading to intra-cardiac thrombosis was diagnosed during open heart surgery using TOE.