Near-Fatal Hepatic Complication After Cardiac Catheter Ablation

Lucy Gracen; Ellie van der List; Nivene Saad; Thomas O'Rourke; Paul West; Paul J Clark

doi:10.1016/j.jaccas.2022.03.011

Near-Fatal Hepatic Complication After Cardiac Catheter Ablation

JACC Case Rep. 2022 Jun 1;4(11):645-648. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2022.03.011.

Authors

Lucy Gracen^{1

2}, Ellie van der List³, Nivene Saad^{4

5}, Thomas O'Rourke⁶, Paul West⁷, Paul J Clark^{2

3

4

8}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Liver Disease Research, Faculty of Medicine, Translational Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
² Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
³ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mater Hospital Brisbane, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary and Transplant Surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
⁷ Department of Cardiology, The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁸ Mater Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Abstract

Radiofrequency cardiac ablation is increasingly performed for the management of dysrhythmias. Bleeding is a well-known complication of this procedure. We present a rare case of a near-fatal iatrogenic hepatic hemorrhage after cardiac catheter ablation. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.).

Keywords: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CT, computed tomography; CTPA, computed tomography pulmonary angiogram; RFCA, radiofrequency catheter ablation; ablation; anticoagulation; hepatic hemorrhage; imaging; shortness of breath.

Publication types

Case Reports