Delayed reopening of a hemodynamically significant patent foramen ovale after left lung transplantation: emergency management.
We report the case of a man who underwent a left-lung transplantation for pulmonary fibrosis and who developed deterioration of his respiratory condition at Day 16 post-operatively, with marked hypoxemia not explained by the usual early respiratory complications of lung transplantation. Contrast-enhanced transthoracic echocardiography identified a patent foramen ovale with massive spontaneous right-to-left shunting. As for the pathogenesis of this right-to-left shunting, we found no evidence supporting an elevation of right-side pressures, with the redirection of the inferior vena cava flow toward the patent foramen ovale being the suspected mechanism. We conclude that delayed reopening of the patent foramen ovale leading to massive right-to-left shunting is a possible complication after lung transplantation.
Mal
Hervé
H
Service de Pneumologie B et Transplantation Pulmonaire, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France. herve.mal@bch.aphp.fr <herve.mal@bch.aphp.fr>
Biondi
Giuseppina
G
Gaudry
Stephane
S
Arnoult
Florence
F
Juliard
Jean Michel
JM
Aubry
Pierre
P
Brochet
Eric
E
Dauriat
Gaëlle
G
Brugière
Olivier
O
Métivier
Anne Cécile
AC
Thabut
Gabriel
G
Fournier
Michel
M
Wolff
Michel
M
D054092:Foramen Ovale, Patent / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000209:etiology*; D016040:Lung Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000601:surgery*