Transfemoral percutaneous removal of a knotted Swan-Ganz catheter.

Intracardiac knotting of balloon-tipped flow-directed catheters during a heart catheterization procedure represents a rare but serious complication. In case that such an event occurs, leading to inability to remove the catheter, various different methods have been described to solve the problem, varying from the least invasive to open heart surgery. The formation of large knots requires surgical removal in the vast majority of cases. We describe the successful nonsurgical removal of a Swan-Ganz catheter, after the formation of a large double knot, during a right heart catheterization performed without fluoroscopic guidance in the intensive care unit. This technique could serve as a last resort in cases that surgical removal seems inevitable due to size-related inapplicability of other nonsurgical methods. Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.