[Cardiovascular depression and intravascular hemolysis secondary to ethanol injection for arteriovenous malformation]

Mei-Hua Cai1, Li-Xin Su, Lin Qiu

  • 1Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Shanghai 200011, China.

Ethanol is the only liquid embolization agent which can cure arteriovenous malformation. Complications of ethanol embolization are not rare including local tissue injury, intravascular hemolysis and cardiovascular depression even collapse, etc. This report presented a case of long time cardiovascular depression and intravascular hemolysis secondary to ethanol embolotherapy of right ear. In order to avoid the fatal complications that are associated with ethanol sclerotherapy, anesthesiologists should consider the use of continuously invasive hemodynamic monitoring while surgeons should carefully choose the dose of ethanol.