THROMBUS IN TRANSIT CAPTURED BY BEDSIDE ULTRASOUND: A LIFE-SAVING TOOL

ABSTRACT

SESSION TITLE Thrombosis Jamboree Rare and Unique Cases SESSION TYPE Rapid Fire Case Reports PRESENTED ON 10/19/2022 1245 pm - 145 pm INTRODUCTION: Point of care ultrasound used by the provider is rapidly expanding in internal medicine. Thrombus in transit (TIT) is defined on ultrasound as mobile echogenic material temporarily present in the right heart chambers to the pulmonary circulation via the tricuspid valve or systemic circulation via an atrial septal defect. In this case, we were able to identify echogenic material traversing the tricuspid valve into the pulmonary circulation, which confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary embolus [1] CASE PRESENTATION This is a 71-year-old female with a history of hypertension who presented to the emergency room with 4-day pleuritic chest pain, productive cough, fever, and exertional dyspnea. She was hemodynamically stable, afebrile, tachycardic, and tachypneic. Initial diagnostic workup demonstrated elevated cardiac enzymes and creatinine, ground-glass opacities on chest CT, positive COVID PCR, and sinus tachycardia with nonspecific T wave abnormalities. Given her renal insufficiency, CTA was initially held off. The patient was found to have right lower extremity deep venous thrombosis, and a heparin infusion was started while waiting for a V/Q scan. Shortly after admission, she had a syncopal episode after using the bathroom. CPR was initiated for suspected cardiac arrest, and a bedside ultrasound demonstrated a sizeable mobile thrombus in the right atrium traversing the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle. Given this finding, we elected to move forward with CTA chest, and this study confirmed extensive bilateral PE with right heart strain. DISCUSSION: TIT is a rare emergency in PE (4%) with a staggering mortality rate twice as high as PE without TIT [2]. The gold standard for diagnosis of PE is CT angiogram, and early echocardiography is a cornerstone in diagnosis and risk stratification. However, patients similar to the one discussed in this care may present with conditions preventing timely utilization of these tools. POCUS allows for the rapid assessment and implementation of time-sensitive treatments. Historically, it has been a must-have skill set among ER and critical care physicians. Only 35% of internal medicine residency programs have fully integrated formal diagnostic POCUS within the past decade despite increasing interest among trainees. The expeditious medical decision made for our patient was possible following a focused echocardiogram performed by an internal medicine resident. In patients with massive PE, only 35% of echocardiograms obtained within 24 hours were done in the ER, and still, 1 in 6 happened after 6 hours [3]. CONCLUSIONS: As with any operator-dependent skill, proficiency in POCUS is a prerequisite for reliable findings and time-sensitive medical decision-making. POCUS only becomes a lifesaving tool in experienced hands. Hence, it is imperative that internal medicine residency programs consider this tool an essential component of resident training. Reference #1 Arboine-Aguirre L, Figueroa-Calderón E, Ramírez-Rivera A, et al. Thrombus in transit and submassive pulmonary thromboembolism successfully treated with tenecteplase. Gac Med Mex. 2017;153(1)129–33. Reference #2 Casazza F, Bongarzoni A, Centonze F, Morpurgo M. Prevalence and prognostic significance of right-sided cardiac mobile thrombi in acute massive pulmonary embolism. Am J Cardiol. 1997;79(10)1433-1435. doi10.1016/s0002-9149(97)00162-8 Reference #3 Torbicki A, Galié N, Covezzoli A, et al. Right heart thrombi in pulmonary embolism results from the International Cooperative Pulmonary Embolism Registry. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2003;41(12)2245-2251. doi10.1016/s0735-1097(03)00479-0 DISCLOSURES No relevant relationships by Varinder Bansro No relevant relationships by Olayiwola Bolaji No relevant relationships by clarence findley No relevant relationships by Faizal Ouedraogo