Nonsurgical extracardiac vascular shunts in the thorax: clinical and imaging characteristics.
Extracardiac nonsurgical vascular shunts in the thorax are a group of well-recognized heterogeneous conditions, frequently symptomatic, in which there is diversion of blood flow from one vessel to another or from a vessel to a cardiac chamber. The authors describe and classify many of these nonsurgical extracardiac shunts or fistulas according to their source and endpoint (eg, systemic-to-systemic, systemic-to-pulmonic, pulmonic-to-systemic, and pulmonic-to-pulmonic) and to whether the oxygenated blood mixes with deoxygenated systemic venous flow (left-to-right shunts), deoxygenated blood bypasses the pulmonary capillary bed (right-to-left shunts), or oxygenated blood recirculates (left-to-left shunts). Clinical manifestations and imaging appearances of these conditions are highlighted.
Martinez-Jimenez
Santiago
S
Department of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. santiago.martinez@duke.edu
Heyneman
Laura E
LE
McAdams
H Page
HP
Jasinowodolinski
Dany
D
Rossi
Santiago E
SE
Restrepo
Carlos S
CS
Washington
Lacey
L
D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D013909:Thorax / Q000098:blood supply*; D016157:Vascular Fistula / Q000175:diagnosis*