An unusual penetrating shrapnel in the heart

Penetrating heart trauma is a surgical emergency and can be fatal. However, cardiac penetration occurring due to non-explosive shrapnel is a rare occurrence. We report a case of a 20-year-old man, who sustained a laceration in his left chest, while he was breaking a rock with a chisel and a hammer. He was diagnosed to have an intramyocardial foreign body in his left ventricle. He underwent left ventriculotomy, foreign body localization under fluoroscopic guidance and successful extraction of the shrapnel from the left ventricular cavity.

Occlusion of a large fistula between the right coronary artery and the right ventricular cavity using Amplatzer® Vascular Plug II. Case report and technical description of the procedure

Coronary arteriovenous fistulas are rare anomalies that connect one or more coronary arteries to a cardiac chamber or other vascular structure. These communications can be occluded using percutaneous treatment, and there are currently several approaches and techniques. We report the case of an adolescent aged 12 years and 10 months, with a large fistula of the right coronary artery draining into the right ventricular cavity, in which the Amplatzer® Vascular Plug II device was used. The technical steps used are described in detail, with excellent immediate results.

Invasion of Pheochromocytoma from the Caudal Vena Cava to the Right Ventricular Cavity in a Dog

Pheochromocytomas are catecholamine-secreting tumors that are composed of neuroectoderm-derived chromaffin cells. An 8-year-old miniature dachshund with abdominal distension was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor with invasion from the caudal vena cava to the right ventricular cavity. The dog died due to hypotensive shock from the vagal reflex, and on autopsy, an extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma (paraganglioma) was diagnosed in the caudal abdomen. At autopsy, the tumor plug of the caudal vena cava was confirmed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report that echo-captured the extension of pheochromocytoma in the right ventricle and shows it in a figure and video file.