Introduction
Aspiration thrombectomy is one of the standard treatments during
percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute
myocardial infarction with high thrombus burden. However, it is not
recommended routinely as it failed to lower mortality and has a risk of
stroke. The primary mechanism of stroke is the technique driven
embolization of the thrombus to the brain.
We experienced a case of embolic stroke complicating coronary thrombus
aspiration due to an extremely rare mechanism. Coronary thrombus that
migrated proximally by aspiration thrombectomy flowed back under the
pressure of the contrast agent and was released into the systemic
circulation.
The aim of this report is to present a new mechanism of the
thrombectomy-associated stroke as an unavoidable complication.