Acute Thrombus Formation as a Complication of Right Ventricular Biopsy

Acute thrombus formation is a complication of EMB. If this complication is unrecognized, and therefore untreated, pulmonary thromboembolism may result. This may have important clinical implications in patients undergoing routine repeated surveillance EMB after cardiac transplantation. The authors recommend performing transthoracic echocardiography during EMB, particularly in patients with histories of thrombosis, because this group of patients may be at increased risk for procedural thrombosis, and procedural echocardiography permits early recognition and treatment of this complication.