Fractured Metal Wire in the Right Ventricle, a Cause of Cardiac Tamponade

Abstract

Cardiac tamponade is a surgical emergency. This case report illustrates a very peculiar situation, where the patient's condition deteriorated rapidly after arrival to the emergency room with a diagnosis of cardiac tamponade. Patient was promptly taken to the operating room and after evacuation of the pericardial effusion, had to be placed on cardio-pulmonary bypass in order to find and treat the source of the bleeding. A wire fragment was recovered from the right ventricle. This was identified as a broken piece of a guide wire used in placing a central venous catheter several years earlier.