Chest
Unusual Complications After Embolization of a Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformation
Section snippets
CASE REPORT
A 47-year-old asymptomatic black woman, a nonsmoker with a family history of HHT, was hospitalized for embolization of a right-sided PAVM, which had been found incidentally on a chest radiograph (Fig 1). This patient was part of the population of a previous report on embolization of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).1 On physical examination multiple telangiectases on skin and mucosal surfaces were seen. A bruit was heard over the right lower lung as well as over the liver. Lung function tests
DISCUSSION
The patient described in this report has HHT with a large PAVM as well as an AVM in the liver. Large systemic AVMs in HHT are rare. They are mostly found in the liver.3 PAVMs are found in 10 to 36% of HHT patients. Nowadays, embolization of the feeding vessels is the therapy of choice for PAVMs. The most common complication is pleurisy, which develops in 10 to 24% of patients.2,4 Occasionally, coronary spasm occurs during embolotherapy.5 Early paradoxic embolization of the material used occurs
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