Successful retrieval of a knotted pulmonary artery catheter trapped in the tricuspid valve apparatus

We report the case of a 64-year-old patient in whom a pulmonary artery catheter formed a knot fixed within the right ventricle in the region of the tricuspid valve apparatus. Knot formation is a recognized complication associated with pulmonary artery catheters (PAC) insertion. This problem is usually dealt with by simply withdrawing the PAC until the knot impacts onto the introducer and after enlarging the puncture site by a small skin incision removing the introducer-PAC as one unit. However, we recently encountered a situation where the PAC was knotted around the tricuspid valve apparatus and could not be withdrawn. An interventional radiologist was able to unknot the catheter and release it from the tricuspid valve. We reviewed the literature related to this topic. We believe our experience could be of use to others.