Emergent CT Diagnosis of Right Ventricular Rupture Caused by Central Venous Catheter Injury

Abstract

Diagnosis of cardiac tamponade has been mainly based on clinical features and echocardiography. However, CT may be an initial tool for the evaluation of cardiac tamponade because cutting edge CT is increasingly being installed in the emergency room, and presentation of cardiac tamponade can be nonspecific. Importantly, CT has better spatial resolution compared with echocardiography. Thus, identification of the etiology of cardiac tamponade is possible on CT. We report a case of cardiac tamponade demonstrating direct leakage of contrast material from the right ventricle into the pericardial space caused by central venous catheter injury diagnosed on CT.