Yeungnam Univ J Med.
2014 Dec;31(2):109-112. 10.12701/yujm.2014.31.2.109.
An adult asymptomatic pulmonary artery sling
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
- 2Department of Internal Medicine, Cheongju St. Mary's Hospital, Cheongju, Korea. megaroad1000@gmail.com
- KMID: 1909817
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.12701/yujm.2014.31.2.109
Abstract
- A pulmonary artery sling is a very rare congenital abnormality in which the left pulmonary artery rises from the posterior surface of the right pulmonary artery and then passes between the trachea and the esophagus, causing tracheal compression. It is associated with tracheo-bronchial abnormalities (50%) and cardiovascular abnormalities (30%). It may produce respiratory symptoms through the airway compression of the abnormal left pulmonary artery and congenital abnormalities associated with it. Because most (90%) pulmonary artery sling patients present symptoms during infancy, their condition is often diagnosed in the first year of life. However, a pulmonary artery sling is occasionally found in adults. It is usually asymptomatic and found incidentally. This is a very rare case of an asymptomatic pulmonary artery sling in an adult. A 38-year-old man presented symptoms of mild exertional dyspnea. His spiral computed tomography showed a pulmonary artery sling. He was discharged without specific treatment because his symptoms improved without specific treatment and might not have been associated with a pulmonary artery sling. We report an adult case of an asymptomatic pulmonary artery sling diagnosed via spiral computed tomography, accompanied by a literature review.
