Images in cardiovascular medicine. Pericardial hematoma after primary angioplasty complicated by coronary rupture.

Abstract

Coronary artery rupture is a rare complication of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Most patients undergo emergency bypass surgery, so the natural course of these events remains unclear. The following images demonstrate a pericardial hematoma, caused by perforation of the right coronary artery. A 59-year-old man underwent primary angioplasty during inferior myocardial infarction. Perforation of the right coronary artery was noted, with extravasation of contrast (Figure⇓), and was treated conservatively. …