CASE REPORTS   

Minerva Pneumologica 2012 December;51(4):157-62

Copyright © 2012 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation associated with fluid containing cysts in the lungs

Korsic M. ¹, Badovinac S. ¹, Puljic I. ², Cucevic B. ¹

¹ Institute for Oncology, Department for Lung Diseases “Jordanovac”, University Hospital Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; ² Radiology, Polyclinic “Medikol”, Zagreb, Croatia

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) is a rare anomaly of lung circulation in which the blood does not exchange oxygen in pulmonary capillary pool, and returns deoxygenated into the pulmonary veins. This may lead to significant right-to-left-shunt that causes dyspnea, fatigue, cyanosis, haemoptysis and polyglobulia. Although usually congenital, the onset of symptoms associated with PAVM occurs mainly between forty and sixty years of age. We present a case of a 72-year-old woman with progressive and severe respiratory insufficiency caused by right-to-left shunt in the large arteriovenous malformation located within the fluid containing cystic lesion in the left lower lung lobe. To our knowledge this is the first case of the description of PAVM within the fluid containing cyst.