During an atrial fibrillation ablation procedure, the tip of the transseptal needle detached inside the patient.Right femoral vein access was achieved and the transseptal needle was advanced along with the sheath with no difficulties.As the transseptal puncture was being performed, it was believed that the needle had passed into the left atrium as tenting of the septum was no longer noted on imaging, however the tip of the needle was no longer visable.A guidewire was inserted but could not be advanced to the tip of the needle.The transseptal needle was then removed from the patient and it was noted that the distal tip was missing.Approximately 1.5 cm of the device could then be seen on imaging, appearing outside of the heart in the low part of the pulmonary vein.The patient was taken to the operating room for open heart surgery, but this was unsuccessful as the detached portion of the needle could not be located.The patient is currently being monitored in the intensive care unit.
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