A study of pulmonary ligament arteries. Relationship to intralobar pulmonary sequestration.
Intralobar pulmonary sequestration (ILS) has generally been considered a congenital malformation, mainly because of the presence of one or more systemic arteries to the sequestered portion of lung. We performed a study of the pulmonary ligaments in children without congenital pulmonary or vascular disease that demonstrated systemic arteries in ten of 11 cases, with as many as five arteries present in a single case. These arteries arose from the thoracic aorta, contributed to the esophageal plexus, and traversed the pulmonary ligament to ramify in the visceral pleura. A sequence of events including bronchial obstruction, pneumonia, pulmonary artery occlusion, pleuritis, and parasitization of pulmonary ligament (or diaphragmatic) arteries leading to the "creation" of an ILS is proposed.
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001158:Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001998:Bronchopulmonary Sequestration / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008168:Lung / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D010994:Pleura / Q000098:blood supply