Floating Thrombus in the Descending Aorta

(Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hachinohe City Hospital, Hachinohe, Japan and Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University*, Sendai, Japan)

Katsuo Matsuki Hidenori Fujiwara Katsuhiko Oda*
Floating masses in the descending aorta are an uncommon source of embolism. We report a 43-year-old woman, with no previous history of thrombotic events, who was admitted to our hospital for renal and splenic infarction. Transesophageal echocardiography and computed tomography showed a floating mass in the descending aorta. We started anticoagulant therapy immediately and performed surgical removal of the mass that had caused multiple embolic episodes. The postoperative course was uneventful. In cases of a free floating thrombus in the aorta, it is important to prevent catastrophic complications by removing it surgically after anticoagulant therapy.
@Jpn. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 36: 301-304 (2007)