Fatal pulmonary haemorrhage from a perforated and possibly iatrogenic thoracic aortic aneurysm |
| |
Authors: | Lau Gilbert |
| |
Institution: | Centre for Forensic Medicine, Health Sciences Authority, 11 Outram Road, Singapore 169078, Singapore. gilbert_lau@moh.gov.sg |
| |
Abstract: | A 56-year-old man, with Noonan's syndrome, underwent surgical correction of an aortic co-arctation almost two decades before his sudden and unexpected demise. The immediate cause of death was massive pulmonary haemorrhage, which was preceded by recurrent mild haemoptysis that was attributed to pneumonia, clinically. Autopsy revealed the presence of a saccular thoracic aortic aneurysm, arising from the apparently weakened anastomosis left by the previous operation. The aneurysm had eroded into the apical segment of the left lung, where it perforated with consequent severe, acute pulmonary haemorrhage. It was observed that the anastomotic line traversed the aneurysmal wall, with the resultant formation of a true aneurysm, rather than merely a pseudo-aneurysm. It is postulated that this finding of an iatrogenic true aneurysm represents a rare, delayed complication of aortic surgery. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|