Clinical Manifestations of Pulmonary Sequestration

Nam, Ga yeon; Park, Hee ju

Abstract

PURPOSE: Pulmonary sequestration is characterized by a mass of non-functioning pulmonary tissue lacking normal communication with the tracheobronchial tree and receiving an aberrant systemic arterial blood supply. Two types have been described:intralobar and extralobar. Symptoms vary from the incidental finding of a mass to recurrent bronchitis or pneumonia, chest pain and hemoptysis. In this study, we evaluated clinical features and outcomes of pulmonary sequestration.
METHODS
The records of the patients diagnosed with pulmonary sequestration by thoracic computerized tomography and aortography between January 1997 and July 2007 were retrospectively reviewed.
RESULTS
Fourteen patients (6 males and 8 females) with an median age of 5.5 years in children, 35 years in adults were diagnosed with pulmonary sequestration. Nine patients had clinical symptoms including recurrent respiratory infections, chest pain and hemoptysis. Six patients were symptom free. The aberrant arteries originated from the descending thoracic aorta in 12 cases, abdominal aorta in 2 cases, inferior phrenic artery in 1 case. Thirteen patients received surgical operations with open thorax in 11 patients and with video-assisted thoracotomy surgery (VATs) in 2 cases recently diagnosed. Eleven cases (84.6%) were found to be of intralobar type and 2 cases (15.4%) were of extralobar type. One patient had bilateral pulmonary sequestration. All patients with preoperative symptoms improved after surgical treatment.
CONCLUSION
The patients who presented with recurrent pneumonia in the same site, hemoptysis and chest pain should be studied to rule out pulmonary sequestration.