Intracardiac Shunts Among Patients Undergoing Oil-Based Contrast Lymphangiography: Prevalence and Rate of Systemic Arterial Embolic Complications

Objective

To determine the prevalence of systemic embolic complications after oil-based contrast lymphangiography.

Patients and Methods

A retrospective medical record review of all patients undergoing oil-based lymphangiographic procedures from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2021 was performed to identify the following: (a) the rate of systemic embolic complications after the procedure; (b) the presence of preprocedure echocardiographic assessment for right-to-left shunting; and (c) the presence of right-to-left shunting after a systemic embolic complication.

Results

A total of 350 patients (200 male, 57%) underwent 400 oil-based lymphangiographic procedures. A total of 2 systemic embolic complications occurred for a prevalence of 0.5% (2/400). Preprocedure echocardiography was performed in 226 patients (226/350, 65%). Identification of a right-to-left shunt was made in 25 patients (25/226, 11%, with the majority reporting shunting at rest (23/25, 92%). Of the patients with systemic embolic complications, one had multifocal systemic oil contrast emboli, and one had a large territorial cerebrovascular infarct without the presence of oil-based contrast noted. Both cases underwent preprocedure echocardiography reporting a structurally normal heart with no evidence of a shunt through color flow Doppler evaluation, but neither case had undergone a true shunt study. Both patients were identified to have a right-to-left shunt during the dedicated echocardiographic shunt study postprocedure.

Conclusion

Risk of a systemic embolic complication after oil-based contrast lymphangiography is rare but can be catastrophic. A standardized assessment for patients undergoing the procedure may be necessary to identify those at risk and to allow for appropriate preventive strategies to be employed.