title: Intrapleural rupture of a pulmonary arteriovenous fistula occurring just beneath the pleura: report of a case.
abstract: We report herein a rare case of a 21-year-old man with Rendu-Osler-Weber disease, otherwise known as hemorrhagic teleangiectasia, in whom a spontaneous hemothorax occurred following the rupture of one of multiple pulmonary arteriovenous fistulae (PAVF). An emergency life-saving operation was performed which revealed the ruptured fistula lying just beneath the visceral pleura. This case demonstrates that patients in whom a pulmonary angiogram shows an arteriovenous fistula lying just beneath the visceral pleura should undergo prophylactic surgery to avoid a life-threatening emergency, whenever possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwabuchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Horikoshi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanita
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujimura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001164:Arteriovenous Fistula / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D006491:Hemothorax / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010995:Pleural Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D011651:Pulmonary Artery; D011667:Pulmonary Veins; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous; D013683:Telangiectasia, Hereditary Hemorrhagic / Q000150:complications*