Left ventricular puncture during thoracentesis

Pericardial tamponade following percutaneous left ventricular puncture.

Left heart catheterization by direct ventricular puncture.

Attempts at complete catheterization of the left heart by transseptal and retrograde routes are not always completely informative nor entirely free from complications (Crowley and Parkin, 1956; KavanaghGray and Drake, 1958; Aldridge, 1964; Samet, Bernstein, and Levine, 1965; Christiansen and Wennevold, 1966), and further alternative means of obtaining haemodynamic information from the left side...

Left Ventricular Angiocardiography by Transseptal Puncture of the Left Atrium.

SELECTIVE angiocardiography of the left side of the heart is of prime importance for the accurate preoperative diagnosis of those lesions involving the mitral valve, ventricular septum, outflow tract of the left ventricle, or the aorta itself. The injection of contrast medium into the pulmonary artery for the demonstration of the left atrium and left ventricle is less satisfactory than the dire...

Giant left atrium encountered during right-sided thoracentesis

Giant left atrium is an uncommon pathology to encounter during bedside chest ultrasound, but is an important structure to be aware of when considering thoracentesis. This cardiac structure could easily be mistaken for loculated pleural fluid. This case also supports growing evidence that expert users can safely perform thoracentesis without completely reversing therapeutic anticoagulation.

Percutaneous left ventricular puncture in the assessment of aortic stenosis.

In the assessment of cases of aortic valve disease with a view to operation, the standard methods of investigation are of limited value. Right heart catheterization gives some indirect information by measuring the cardiac output and the pulmonary capillary pressure. Some information can be obtained from a study of the peripheral arterial pulse wave, but this too cannot always supply a definite ...