• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.979-984
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• 2003

Primary pulmonary artery sarcoma is very rare disease. The diagnosis of pulmonary artery sarcoma is frequently confused with pulmonary embolism because its clinical symptom and radiologic findings are similar with pulmonary embolism. It was often diagnosed at autopsy as it progresses rapidly. So Pulmonary artery sarcoma must be suspected if the origin of thrombus is not known and anticoagulation therapy is not effective. In this case, a 57 years old man who has been diagnosed pulmonary embolism was transferred to our department because of ineffective anticoagulant therapy and its worsening lesion despite of 5 month-therapy. In operative findings, it was pulmonary artery sarcoma that invaded to pericardium. There was angiosarcoma in right pulmonary artery, which metastasized to lung parenchyme. Under cardiopulmonary bypass, we resected main pulmonary artery and right lung. The Gore-tex graft was interposed between main pulmonary artery and left pulmonary artery. He was discharged after chemotherapy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.962-967
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• 1990

The anomalous pulmonary venous return of the entire left lung was an extremely rare congenital anomaly. The reported surgical experience with correction of this disorder was limited. The 3-year-old female patient underwent an operation upon the unilateral total anomalous pulmonary venous return from the left lung, in which the left superior pulmonary vein drained into innominate vein and the left inferior pulmonary vein into the coronary sinus, in Yeungnam University Hospital. The symptoms were nonspecific except frequent upper respiratory infection. Cyanosis was not seen. On auscultatory findings, a grade 2/6 systolic ejection murmur was audible over left second intercostal space of left sternal border and second heart sound had an increased pulmonary component which was widely splitted. The electrocardiogram demonstrated a right ventricular hypertrophy and right axis deviation and chest X-ray showed slightly increased pulmonary vascularity and bulged pulmonary conus. The echocardiogram demonstrated increased right atrial, ventricular, and pulmonary arterial dimension, and also secundum atrial septal defect and enlarged coronary sinus. The cardiac catheterization confirmed the left-to-right with a Qp/Qs of 2.0: 1 and oxygen step-up was seen in pulmonary artery, right ventricle, right atrium, and left innominate vein, and the catheter was not been introduced into the left pulmonary vein. A median sternotomy incision was done. Left superior pulmonary vein was drained to the innominate vein through anomalous vertical vein and the left inferior pulmonary vein drained to right atrium through the coronary sinus. The diversion of the left inferior pulmonary vein to posterior wall of left atrium was done after division in the proximity of coronary sinus. The anomalous vertical vein was diverted to base of left atrial auricle and then a atrial septal defect was sutured directly. The postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged on the eleventh postoperative day. In the postoperative follow-up-2 months, she has been well without specific problems.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.99-104
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• 2000

Pulmonary hemangiomatosis is a rare disease of unknown etiology characterized by diffuse proliferating microvessels that infiltrate not only the lung but also all of the thoracic tissues. The disease is rapidly progressive and usually results in death due to complications of pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary hemorrhage. There are two histologic patterns of pulmonary hemangiomatosis : capillary and cavernous. We describe a 21-year-old man with cavernous-type pulmonary hemangiomatosis presented with right side shoulder pain. He was treated with percutaneous transarterial embolization and then followed with interferon alfa-2a for one year with favorable clinical and radiological response.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.73 no.4
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• pp.231-233
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• 2012

Tadalafil is a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5I), which is widely used to treat erectile dysfunction. Although PDE5Is have excellent safety profiles, and most of the side effects are mild, rare serious adverse events have been reported in association with PDE5Is. Thrombosis is one of those events, and a few previous reports have suggested the association of PDE5Is with thrombosis. We report the case of a 61-year-old male who developed pulmonary embolism combined with pulmonary infarction directly after taking tadalafil. Both the patient and the physician suspected tadalafil as the culprit drug, as the patient was in an otherwise healthy condition. However, after extensive evaluation, we noticed that factor VIII levels were elevated. Prior reports suggesting the association between thrombosis and PDEIs either lack complete information on coagulation factors, or show inconsistencies in their results. Physicians should operate caution prior to accepting the diagnosis of adverse drug reaction.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1057-1066
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• 1990

The possible relationship between pulmonary vascular pathologic changes and an increased pulmonary blood flow and pulmonary blood pressure has been the subject of investigation for many years. In an attempts to study the effects of increased pulmonary blood flow. long-term observations have been made in neonatal goats in which the total pulmonary vascular bed was restricted by means of ligation of left pulmonary artery, thereby diverting the total right ventricular output through the right lung. The left pulmonary artery and patent ductus arteriosus were ligated in 6 neonatal goats of under 3 weeks of age, and the goats were put to death at interval between 1 and 7 months of age. Pulmonary arterial development in both right and left lungs was studied by applying quantitative morphometric techniques, and compared with control group of goats between 1 and 6 months of age. The axial pulmonary artery and its branches were larger in the right lung than in the control group in all animals, and they were abnormally small in the left lung. In the right lung, arteries smaller than 50\ulcornerm showed abnormal increase in `% wall thickness’ in postoperative 2,3,5 and 6th months[p<0.05]. The proportion of non-muscular arteries was over 50% at postoperative 1st month in both right and left lungs, but an increase in proportion of partially muscular and wholly muscular arteries occurred thereafter. The ratio of alveoli/arteries was lower than normal in the right lung of postoperative 1st month[p<0.05], but was elevated thereafter. The failure to perfuse one pulmonary artery in neonatal goats changed growth and development of both lungs.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.78 no.3
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• pp.227-231
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• 2015

Background: Diagnostic methods for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) have recently advanced. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in TB diagnostic tests that prompted the initiation of anti-TB treatment over time in South Korea, an industrialized country with an intermediate TB burden. Methods: Patients diagnosed with pulmonary TB in the first halves of 2005 and 2013 at a tertiary referral hospital were included. Diagnostic methods that prompted the initiation of anti-TB treatment were compared between the 2 groups of patients. Results: A greater proportion of patients were diagnosed with pulmonary TB using bronchoscopy in 2013 than in 2005 (26.7% vs. 6.6%, respectively; p<0.001), while the proportion of patients clinically diagnosed with pulmonary TB was lower in 2013 than in 2005 (24.7% vs. 49.0%, respectively; p<0.001). Additionally, more patients started anti-TB treatment based on positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results for Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in 2013 than in 2005 (47.3% vs. 7.9%, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusion: The initiation of treatment for pulmonary TB in South Korea has become more frequently based on PCR and the use of bronchoscopic specimens.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.569-572
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• 2013

Dirofilariasis is a rare disease in humans. We report here a case of a 48-year-old male who was diagnosed with pulmonary dirofilariasis in Korea. On chest radiographs, a coin lesion of 1 cm in diameter was shown. Although it looked like a benign inflammatory nodule, malignancy could not be excluded. So, the nodule was resected by video-assisted thoracic surgery. Pathologically, chronic granulomatous inflammation composed of coagulation necrosis with rim of fibrous tissues and granulations was seen. In the center of the necrotic nodules, a degenerating parasitic organism was found. The parasite had prominent internal cuticular ridges and thick cuticle, a well-developed muscle layer, an intestinal tube, and uterine tubules. The parasite was diagnosed as an immature female worm of Dirofilaria immitis. This is the second reported case of human pulmonary dirofilariasis in Korea.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 1991

From February 1988 to December 1990, 42 patients underwent so called REV operation for pulmonary stenosis or atresia with or without anomalies of ventriculoarterial connection and truncus arteriosus. The principles of operative technique are mobilization of pulmonary arterial tree beyond the pericardial reflection, transection of pulmonary trunk between the pulmonary ventricle and pulmonary artery, suture of distal pulmonary arterial stump to the upper margin of Pulmonary ventriculotomy site with absorbable suture, and anterior patch with 0.625% glutaraldehyde fixed autologous pericardium with monocusp inside it. Age at operation ranged 3-156months [mean 41.8 month] with twelve of whom infants. Operative indications were pulmonary atresia, with ventricular septal defect[16], and pulmonary stenosis with double outlet right ventricle[8], with ventricular septal defect[16], with double outlet right ventricle[8], with complete transposition of the great arteries[8], with corrected transposition of the great arteries[6], with Fallot`s tetralogy[3], and truncus arteriosus[1]. There were six hospital deaths[14%] and no late death. Twenty-four of 36 survivals were followed up more than 12 months with good clinical results. Postoperative angiocardiogram was performed in fifteen patients. Hemodynamically, two patents had residual pressure gradients along the pulmonary outflow tract, one patient showed severe pulmonary regurgitation; morphologically, there were six significant stenosis of left pulmonary arterial tree, two of whom showed significant pressure gradients. Our present experience with REV operation suggests that this technique make it possible to perform anatomic repair in a wide variety of congenital anomalies of abnormal ventriculoarterial connection associated with pulmonary outflow tract obstruction without using the prosthetic material, even in infants, with relatively low mortality and morbidity.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.76 no.3
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• pp.136-140
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• 2014

Pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS) is a rare, poorly differentiated malignancy arising from the intimal layer of the pulmonary artery. Contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) is a good diagnostic modality that shows a low-attenuation filling defect of the pulmonary artery in PAS patients. An 18-year-old man was referred to our hospital for the evaluation and management of cavitary pulmonary lesions that did not respond to treatment. A contrast-enhanced CT of the chest was performed, which showed a filling defect within the right interlobar pulmonary artery. The patient underwent a curative right pneumonectomy after confirmation of PAS. Although lung parenchymal lesions of PAS are generally nonspecific, it can be presented as cavities indicate pulmonary infarcts. Clinicians must consider the possibility of PAS as well as pulmonary thromboembolism in patients with pulmonary infarcts. So, we report the case with PAS that was diagnosed during the evaluation of cavitary pulmonary lesions and reviewed the literatures.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.394-399
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• 1999

We report a case of congenital and familial antithrombin III deficiency developing massive pulmonary thromboembolism. A 44-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of sudden chest pain and severe dyspnea. Five years ago, he was operated due to a mesenteric vein thrombosis of unknown cause. On admission, radioisotopic venogram showed deep vein thrombosis and lung scintigram showed multiple segmental perfusion defects. His plasma antithrombin III level was 10.5 mg/dL which was less than 50% of normal and those of a son and two daughters were also decreased. After treatment with tissue plasminogen activator, heparin and coumadin, his symptom and lung scintigram were significantly improved. As far as we reviewed, there were very rare reports with congenital antithrombin III deficiency presenting as pulmonary thromboembolism in Korea.