Right-to-left shunting after lobectomy through a patent foramen ovale.
Hypoxia and dyspnea after lung resection may be caused by a variety of factors. One entity that has been rarely described is right-to-left shunting across an interatrial communication in the absence of elevated right-sided pressures. We describe the occurrence of clinically evident right-to-left shunting after lobectomy in a patient with a patent foramen ovale and suggest that two-dimensional contrast echocardiography is a useful and minimally invasive means of diagnosing what may be a more common entity than was previously recognized.
D000328:Adult; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000209:etiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011859:Radiography