Management of a broken atrial catheter migrated into the heart: a rare complication of ventriculoatrial shunt--case report.

A 21-year-old male, who had undergone a ventriculoatrial shunt for hydrocephalus 5 years previously, became stuporous. A roentgenogram revealed that the distal segment of the broken atrial catheter had migrated and become lodged in the heart. Because the fragment had not adhered to the myocardium, it was easily retrieved by the transvenous approach with a retriever catheter. If the migrated catheter does not adhere to the myocardium, transvenous catheter retrieval is absolutely necessary. If, however, the migrated catheter adheres to the myocardium, an open thoracotomy would be required for retrieval, or the alternative of warfarin administration without retrieval may be the treatment of choice, as long as other problems do not occur.