Wandering stent within the pulmonary circulation.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Interventional Radiology

Background:

• Vascular stent migration is a rare but serious complication.
• End-stage renal disease patients often require central venous catheterization, increasing procedural risks.

Observation:

• An 83-year-old patient with end-stage renal disease experienced accidental dislodgement of a left brachiocephalic vein stent into the pulmonary artery during central line placement.
• Serial imaging confirmed stent migration within the pulmonary arterial system.

Findings:

• Conservative management with low-molecular-weight heparin and clopidogrel was initiated.
• The patient remained asymptomatic from the migrated stent for 4.5 years until death from unrelated causes.

Implications:

• This case highlights the feasibility of a conservative "wait-and-see" strategy for pulmonary circulation stent migration.
• Supports conservative management in select patients to avoid invasive interventions for asymptomatic migrated stents.