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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension and Assessment of Right Ventricular Function in the Piglet
Published on: November 4, 2015
Right-to-left interatrial shunt with hypoxemia caused by a right atrial thrombus
Franco Vargas-Beal1, Stephanie A Coulter, Sai Yendamuri
1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Abstract:
A right-to-left shunt in the presence of normal pulmonary artery pressure is an unusual cause of hypoxemia in an adult who has a patent foramen ovale. We report a rare case of such a shunt-the result of a right atrial thrombus that formed in a hypercoagulable patient after placement of an indwelling central venous catheter for chemotherapy. In order to ascertain the nature of the right atrial mass and to decrease the risk of systemic embolization, the thrombus was surgically removed with the patient on cardiopulmonary bypass.
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