The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 45, 561-563, Copyright © 1988 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Coronary embolism following atrial septal defect repair
CL Backer, RS Hartz, SN Meyers and G Davis
Department of Surgery, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL 60611.
To our knowledge, coronary embolism following repair of atrial septal
defect has not been reported previously. A 29-year-old woman had an
angiographically documented embolus to the circumflex coronary artery on
the fifth postoperative day after pericardial patch repair of a secundum
atrial septal defect. This complication might have been prevented by
temporary postoperative anticoagulation.