A case of acute coronary syndrome caused by a giant saddle thrombus at left main coronary artery bifurcation

SummaryAn 87-year-old woman who had metastatic lung cancer presented with intermittent chest discomfort. The emergent coronary angiogram showed a giant saddle thrombus at the left main coronary artery bifurcation without flow limitation. We performed thrombolysis with unfractionated heparin and warfarin under careful observation of the thrombus with a 320-row area detector computed tomography (ADCT). Ten days later, the second examination with ADCT revealed complete resolution of the saddle thrombus. During the follow-up, neither chest pain nor enzymatic cardiac damage was reported. In this carefully observed case, a less invasive strategy instead of catheter intervention or strong thrombolysis might have led to a favorable clinical outcome.