Monday, June 04, 2012

Myocardial biopsy

Table of Contents

Alternative Names

Heart biopsy; Biopsy - heart


What the risks are

Risks are moderate and include:

  • Blood clots
  • Bleeding from the biopsy site
  • Cardiac arrhythmias
  • Infection
  • Injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve
  • Injury to the vein or artery
  • Pneumothorax
  • Rupture of the heart (very rare)
  • Tricuspid regurgitation

Special considerations


Review Date: 06/01/2010
Reviewed By: Issam Mikati, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Director, Northwestern Clinic Echocardiography Lab, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)