title: Posterior mediastinal arteriovenous malformation with atypical color Doppler sonographic findings.
abstract: An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is an anomaly of capillary development that results in a direct connection between branches of an artery and veins, with no intervening capillary network. A definite diagnosis of AVM is usually made with angiography. We report the case of a posterior mediastinal AVM found on routine sonography in a 64-year-old woman with neglected hypertension and severe back pain. Color Doppler imaging showed 2 adjoined vascular structures without a typical mosaic-like flow pattern, and spectral Doppler analysis showed low-resistance flow and arteriovenous shunting in 2 adjoined vascular structures. The diagnosis was subsequently confirmed by angiography. Because disastrous bleeding could result if needle biopsy were performed inadvertently in the case of a suspected mediastinal AVM, we suggest that color Doppler sonography be attempted if there is an adequate acoustic window.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Lung
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Hao-Chien
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Pan-Chyr
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D001165:Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color