Articles Posted in Interventional Cardiology Errors

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Mr. Doe, in his mid-60s, was diagnosed as having severe aortic stenosis. He consulted with Dr. Roe, a cardiologist who recommended coronary angiography, ventriculography and an aortography.

While Mr. Doe was undergoing these procedures, a catheter became untangled and lodged in his heart muscle. Dr. Roe continued to inject dye through the entangled catheter, which then led to an “explosion” that ruptured Mr. Doe’s heart.

Mr. Doe suffered cardiac arrest, cardiac tamponade and shock. He died the next day. He was survived by his wife, children and grandchildren.
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Gerald Sanford, 72, suffered from mitral valve disease. When he experienced heart palpitations, he consulted with an interventional radiologist, Dr. Amarnath Vedere. The doctor did an angiogram to examine the workings of his patient’s blood vessels; during the examination, he used an x-ray and dye.

The results of the angiogram showed a calcified lesion in the mid-segment of Sanford’s left anterior descending artery. This artery is known to be one of the most likely to be occluded. Dr. Vedere scheduled Sanford for percutaneous coronary intervention, a catheterization with a plaque-removing procedure and stent replacement.

During this procedure, Dr. Vedere attempted fourteen times to insert a guiding catheter with a stent. Sanford suffered respiratory arrest, which led to his death just a few weeks later. He was survived by his wife and teenage daughter.
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