Successful Interventional Removal of a Migrated Sternal Wire in the Pulmonary Artery

Abstract

We report a case in which a migrated fractured sternal wire fragment was successfully retrieved using interventional radiology. After a median sternotomy for coronary artery bypass grafting, a migrated fracture wire initially strayed into the right ventricular myocardium, then migrated into the right pulmonary artery, and subsequently into the left pulmonary artery, 34 months after coronary artery bypass grafting. Computed tomography and angiography revealed that the wire was located in the peripheral left lower lobe branch of the A8 pulmonary artery. It was retrieved from the A8 left pulmonary artery using a gooseneck snare under X-ray fluoroscopy.