Hong Kong man in critical state after doctors find air bubbles in artery during treatment
Patient, 49, was at Tuen Mun hospital with chest pain and very low blood pressure due to heart attack
A 49-year-old man has been fighting for his life after air bubbles were found in an artery during a procedure to open it up.
The patient attended Tuen Mun Hospital’s medicine and geriatrics specialist outpatient clinic on the morning of October 25 with chest pain and very low blood pressure due to a heart attack.
His condition was critical, and he was admitted for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a non-surgical procedure to open up arteries, which was arranged for noon in the same day, a hospital spokesman said.
When an angiography was performed on his right coronary artery, an air embolism was seen, meaning one or more air bubbles had entered the artery and blocked it.
The patient’s blood pressure remained low, and he went into cardiac arrest.
Resuscitation was initiated, and his condition was stabilised. The operation was completed.
No residual gas was found subsequently.