Extraction of large intracoronary thrombus in acute myocardial infarction by percutaneous Fogarty maneuver: intentional abuse of a novel interventional device.

Intracoronary thrombus in the infarct-related artery remains a challenge for interventional catheter-based techniques in acute myocardial infarction and may result in severe complications due to distal embolization. We describe a patient with acute myocardial infarction in whom a large intracoronary thrombus of the left anterior descending coronary artery was successfully removed by percutaneous Fogarty maneuver using an expanded filter protection device. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.