This exhibit displays the anterior view of the lungs and heart showing the mechanism of an air embolism with a Hickman catheter tip through the superior vena cava vessel wall. The mechanism starts by air entering the internal jugular vein as (or just after) the catheter is removed. The air then travels with blood flow in the venous circulation and through the right side of the heart to be pumped out to the lungs. Next, pockets of air form in the pulmonary trunk and blocks blood flow, causing an air embolism. Sites where air can lodge include the pulmonary outflow tract, pulmonary arterioles, and pulmonary microcirculation.
