Fragmentation, embolization, and left ventricular perforation of a recovery filter.

The Recovery retrievable inferior vena cava filter (C. R. Bard, Tempe, Arizona) was approved in the United States for temporary and permanent prophylaxis against pulmonary embolism. A few reports in the literature document fracture and migration of the Recovery filter or filter fragments into the heart. The authors report a case of delayed intracardiac migration of a fractured wire from this filter and describe the clinical course of a patient in whom this complication was managed.

Acute lower limb ischemia associated with use of an immersion suit.

External compression is a rare cause of acute lower limb ischemia. Workers required to wear immersion suits during helicopter simulation training are exposed to external compressive forces which can alter the hemodynamics in arterial bypass conduits. Herein a case of arterial thromboembolization to the lower limb following the wearing of an immersion suit, in a patient who had undergone arterial bypass surgery 13 yr previously is presented. The potential for this episode of acute leg ischemia being a direct result of the compressive forces exerted by the immersion suit and the possible implications for wearers of immersion suits following arterial graft surgery is discussed.