Splenic infarction: A complication of cardiac catheterization

Patients with extensive atherosclerosis are at increased risk of developing embolic complications during cardiac catheterization. We describe a 51‐year‐old man with unstable angina and bilateral leg claudication who developed fever and right upper abdominal pain shortly after cardiac catheterization. Liver‐spleen scintigraphy demonstrated a wedge‐shaped filling defect compatible with splenic infarction, and serial scans performed over a period of five months showed resolution of this finding. Splenic infarction tends to be under‐diagnosed, and physicians should be aware of this potentially serious complication of cardiac catheterization.