Internal mammary artery injury complicating a Surfacer inside-out central venous catheterization.

We report the case of a near fatal arterial injury in a patient undergoing an inside-out catheter placement through an occluded central venous system using the Surfacer device (Bluegrass Vascular). The right internal mammary artery was inadvertently lacerated during the procedure, leading to cardiovascular collapse. The patient was rescued by transfusion, placement of a chest tube, and coil embolization of the right internal mammary artery.

Safety of bilateral arm pressure measurements in the diagnostic workup of dialysis-associated steal syndrome.

Objective: Although bilateral brachial pressure measurement is routinely included in the diagnostic work-up of upper extremity ischemia, it is generally avoided in the presence of hemodialysis access due to fears of inducing access thrombosis. This study evaluated the safety of bilateral brachial pressure measurement in patients with clinical suspicion of dialysis-associated steal syndrome (DASS).

Methods: Patients undergoing non-invasive testing for steal syndrome between September 2015 and December 2021 were included in this study.

Cardiovascular collapse during mechanical thrombectomy for acute pulmonary embolism and the role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in patient rescue.

Background: Driven by the ability to avoid thrombolytics and provide a one stop procedure with immediate hemodynamic improvement, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) devices for the treatment of intermediate-to-high risk pulmonary embolism (PE). This study investigated the incidence and outcomes of cardiovascular collapse during MT procedures and demonstrates the role of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in salvaging patients.

Methods: This single-center retrospective review included patients with PE undergoing MT with the FlowTriever device between 2017 and 2022.