title: A thrombus of the right upper pulmonary vein: detection by the use of a 64-MDCT.
abstract: Stroke is an important disease, because it is usually devastating and often fatal. Left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombi are well known as a cause for cerebral infarction, but pulmonary vein thrombi remain unknown. To detect LAA thrombi, transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) is usually used. More recently, a 64-slice multidetector CT (64-MDCT) has proved to be an option for identifying them. The patient was 77-year-old male, and had a lacuna infarction in pons. A 64-MDCT demonstrated a 3 to 4 mm thrombus at the proximal side of right upper pulmonary vein. After 2 months warfarin therapy, the thrombus disappeared. When assessing the possible cause for cerebral infarction, it is important to identify thrombi within the LAA, and in the left pulmonary vein. 64-MDCT seems to be more suitable and reliable than TOE to detect thrombi of the pulmonary vein, because of no influence of pulmonary air.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan. takeuchi-h@clin.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020526:Brain Stem Infarctions / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D011149:Pons / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy; D014859:Warfarin / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D014859:Warfarin