Retained radial artery catheter fragment.

It is estimated that 8 million arterial lines are placed in the United States yearly, with a low incidence of complications reported as less than 1% Gardner RM. (Direct arterial pressure monitoring. Curr Anaesth Crit Care 1990;1:239-46.

Atypical lipomatous tumour of the oesophagus.

Atypical lipomatous tumours (ALT) of the oesophagus are rare malignant tumours that are found most commonly in the cervical oesophagus. They are commonly misdiagnosed as giant fibrovascular polyps of the oesophagus (GFP). The differentiation between these clinical entities is important as ALTs are malignant tumours with the potential for local recurrence and metastases.

Use of Argatroban for anticoagulation during cardiopulmonary bypass in a patient with heparin allergy.

The use of Argatroban for treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and for percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with HIT is well described and FDA approved. The use of Argatroban for cardiopulmonary bypass remains off label and the subject of a few case reports. We report the case of a patient with a heparin allergy requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for mitral valve replacement.