Bullet Embolization from the Left Brachiocephalic Vein to the Right Ventricle

Bullet embolization to the heart: A rare and confounding penetrating cardiac injury case report

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Hemodynamically stable gunshot wound patients may be managed without retrieval of the bullet.

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Nearly 90% of patients with cardiac bullet emboli on initial presentation are hemodynamically stable.

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Non-operative management of stable patients includes intensive observation and additional imaging to localize the bullet.

Gunshot wounds to the cardiac region usually result in devastating injuries. However, if bullets embolize into the myocardium without significant damage to the organ, optimal evaluation and management remains unclear. We present the case of a hemodynamically stable gunshot wound patient who presented with a bullet to the heart. Sternotomy revealed that the bullet had embolized through the superior vena cava and embedded into the apex of the right ventricle. The patient was managed without retrieval of the bullet and continues to be well despite a retained intracardiac bullet. We discuss cases of bullet embolization to the heart and the emergence of minimally-invasive approaches for management.

Management of Bullet Emboli to the Heart and Great Vessels

INTRODUCTION

Firearm-related injuries account for 20% of all injury-related deaths and are responsible for 105,000 injuries annually. The occurrence of bullet emboli to the heart is exceedingly rare. Given the rarity of emboli, controversy exists over management. The primary endpoint of this study is to establish a management algorithm for venous bullet emboli to the heart.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A literature search was performed using PubMed and Google Scholar with the following search terms: cardiac bullet embolus, cardiac missile embolus, and bullet embolus. Any discoverable case report(s) or series after 1960 were included in the review. The following data points were collected: age, sex, presentation, imaging, foreign body entry site, foreign body destination site, management, and outcomes.

RESULTS

Fifty-four articles met our search criteria. A total of 62 patients with thoracic venous bullet emboli were identified with the following distributions: right atrium (9.7%), right ventricle (54.8%), pulmonary arterial tree (32.3%), and intra-thoracic inferior vena cava (3.2%). Only 11.3% of patients had symptoms directly related to the cardiac venous emboli; however, all patients with acute symptoms underwent immediate intervention. Of those patients with bullet emboli to the pulmonary arterial tree, 45% were observed; whereas, only 20% with emboli to the right heart were observed. Those without signs or symptoms usually underwent an intervention (72.7%). Endovascular retrieval was successful in 53% of attempts. Of the endovascular attempts that failed, 28.6% were observed and 71.4% underwent open retrieval. Those who were asymptomatic and observed had no reported adverse sequelae during the follow-up. No mortalities were discovered in this review.

CONCLUSION

Bullet emboli can prove to be a clinical challenge. Adjuncts such as X-ray, computed tomography, transthoracic, and/or transesophageal echocardiography help establish the emboli location. While observation in the asymptomatic patient is reasonable in some circumstances, most patients undergo removal. Removal of bullet cardiac emboli is safe with the availability of modern techniques.

Bullet embolization to the external iliac artery after gunshot injury to the abdominal aorta: a case report

Introduction

Abdominal vascular trauma is fairly common in modern civilian life and is a highly lethal injury. However, if the projectile is small enough, if its energy is diminished when passing through the tissue and if the arterial system is elastic enough, the entry wound into the artery may close without exsanguination and therefore may not be fatal. A projectile captured may even travel downstream until it is arrested by the smaller distal vasculature. The occurrence of this phenomenon is rare and was first described by Trimble in 1968.

Case presentation

Here we present a case of a 29-year-old Albanian man who, due to a gunshot injury to the back, suffered fracture of his twelfth thoracic and first lumbar vertebra, injury to the posterior wall of his abdominal aorta and then bullet embolism to his left external iliac artery. It is interesting that the signs of distal ischemia developed several hours after the exploratory surgery, raising the possibility that the bullet migrated in the interim or that there was a failure to recognize it during the exploratory surgery.

Conclusion

In all cases where there is a gunshot injury to the abdomen or chest without an exit wound and with no projectile in the area, there should be a high index of suspicion for possible bullet embolism, particularly in the presence of the distal ischemia.

The evolving management of venous bullet emboli: a case series and literature review

Bullet emboli are an infrequent and unique complication of penetrating trauma. Complications of venous and arterial bullet emboli can be devastating and commonly include limb-threatening ischaemia,pulmonary embolism, cardiac valvular incompetence, and cerebrovascular accidents. Bullets from penetrating wounds can gain access to the venous circulation and embolise to nearly every large vascular bed. Venous emboli are often occult phenomenon and may remain unrecognised until migration leads to vascular injury or flow obstruction with resultant oedema. The majority of arterial emboli present early with end-organ or limb ischaemia. We describe four separate cases involving venous bullet embolism and the subsequent management of each case. Review of the literature focusing on the reported management of these injuries, comparison of techniques of management, as well as the evolving role of endovascular techniques in the management of bullet emboli is provided.