A team at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles recently used a novel, basket-shaped retrieval device to successfully remove a large right atrial thrombus (blood clot).
The procedure took place in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab and was just the fourth-in-human use for the device, which is made by ŌNŌCOR and received Food and Drug Administration clearance in May. The team also used endovascular snares and electrocautery to excise the clot.
The patient was initially referred to cardiothoracic surgeon John Cleveland, MD, for an open-heart surgery to remove the large, 3-by-2-centimeter thrombus.
But the teen also needed a separate, crucial surgery to treat another condition. An open-heart surgery and the subsequent recovery would result in significant and potentially harmful delays to that other operation.
The instrument is considered a “rescue” tool for percutaneously removing embolized stents or other implants, as well as biologic material, from the vascular system. Its retrieval basket is made of nickel-titanium alloy, a relatively soft metal that allows it to be fully compressed inside a catheter. An endovascular snare is placed inside of it.
This particular case, though, would be more complex. This was not a free-floating object that had migrated from its intended location. It was a blood clot affixed to the wall of the heart.
The patient recovered well. Importantly, the teen was then able to undergo the critical surgery needed to address the other condition—without any delay in that schedule.
