Abstract
Coronary artery perforation (CAP) is a potentially fatal complication
following percutaneous coronary intervention. The suspicion for
post-procedural CAP typically arises from the development of clinical
hemodynamic instability of the patient and evidence of new or worsening
pericardial effusion in bedside echocardiography. Following such
suspicion, emergent pericardiocentesis and immediate repeated coronary
angiography should be performed to assess for coronary perforation. The
use of echo-contrast material, currently used to improve
echocardiographic resolution and provide real-time assessment of
intracardiac blood flow evaluation, has yet been described to facilitate
diagnosis of such infrequent complication without delaying invasive
treatment in this setting.