peripheral intravenous line in a patient with a known pulmonary AVM. What special precautions should you take?
Patients with pulmonary AVMs lack the filter function performed by the pulmonary capillary bed. This situation predisposes patients to paradoxic emboli from endogenous and exogenous sources. Air or other material accidentally introduced into the venous system could pass through the shunt and cause a stroke. Care must be taken that all venous lines are free of air and that filters are used to prevent paradoxic emboli.
