Spontaneous haemothorax as a complication of anti-coagulation following coronary angioplasty.

Haemorrhagic complications are well recognized when heparin is used during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). We present a 74-year-old female who developed a large acute spontaneous haemothorax 20 h after coronary angioplasty. Spontaneous haemothorax has rarely been described and is predominantly associated with pulmonary embolism. In the absence of a pulmonary embolus, a spontaneous haemothorax during anti-coagulation has only been described twice in the world literature since 1862 (1). This is the first description of this complication following the use of heparin during PTCA.