Rupture of the main pulmonary trunk in a woman with severe pulmonary artery hypertension and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.
Spontaneous rupture of the main pulmonary trunk is a very uncommon complication of severe pulmonary hypertension. The condition manifests as sudden death or cardiogenic shock usually diagnosed postmortem. We report the case of a 65-year-old-women with severe pulmonary hypertension and hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, among other diseases, evaluated due to severe epistaxis. Initial evaluation was performed and during observation, the patient developed sudden cardiac death. Autopsy revealed rupture of the main pulmonary trunk as the cause of death.
Section of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico. jorge_leavitt@yahoo.com
Jorge L
JL
Leavitt-Caraballo
José E
JE
López-Rodríguez
José C
JC
Reyes-Peña
Emmanuel
E
Agosto
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary; D008168:Lung; D011651:Pulmonary Artery; D013683:Telangiectasia, Hereditary Hemorrhagic