Platypnoea after pneumonectomy caused by a combination of intracardiac right-to-left shunt and hypovolaemia. Relief of symptoms on restitution of blood volume.
A patient developed platypnoea about a month after pneumonectomy. The symptoms proved to be due to a combination of an atrial right-to-left shunt and hypovolaemia. Blood volume substitution did not change the direction of the shunt, but the symptoms were relieved. The physiological background to this may be a less pronounced venous desaturation and thereby a less marked influence of the shunt on the arterial oxygen saturation.
D000368:Aged; D001810:Blood Volume; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006343:Heart Septal Defects / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011187:Posture; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000209:etiology