Carbon dioxide embolism during endoscopic vein harvesting

Endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) is becoming common for the patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Using carbon dioxide insufflations during the vein harvest can produce rare but catastrophic CO(2) embolism. We report a case of massive right atrial CO(2) embolism due to femoral vein injury which occurred during the performance of a routine EVH procedure.