Robotic cardiac surgery for removal of iliac venous stent embolized in the right cardiac chambers: a case report

ABSTRACT A 42-year-old female patient with a surgical history of iliac venous angioplasty with stenting developed dyspnea on exertion 9 months later. Chest computed tomography angiography revealed a fractured vascular stent in the right cardiac chamber. Doppler echocardiography confirmed that the stent was anchored by the tricuspid valve, causing mild obstruction of the right ventricular filling. The patient underwent robot-assisted cardiac surgery with stent removal, annuloplasty under general anesthesia, and cardiopulmonary bypass via an axillary incision. No sternotomy, cardioplegia, or aortic clamping was required. The right atrium was opened, and no surgical or anesthetic complications occurred. The patient was extubated in the operating room, with no requirement for vasoactive drugs after surgery. She was discharged on the fifth postoperative day in a good general condition, eupneic, and without lower-limb venous symptoms. Re-do iliac venous angioplasty was not necessary.