A case report of ventricular fibrillation following Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy during percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy (S-IVL) is widely used during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of calcified coronary arteries. Ventricular capture beats during S-IVL are common but arrhythmias are rare.
Case Presentation: A 75-year-old woman was scheduled for PCI to a short, heavily calcified chronic total occlusion of the right coronary artery. After wiring of the occlusion, S-IVL was used to predilated the calcified stenosis. During S-IVL, the patient developed ventricular fibrillation twice.
Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is only the second reported case of VF during S-IVL. Although very rare, it is important to be aware of this potential and serious complication.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)