Right-to-left interatrial shunt causing platypnea after pneumonectomy. A recent experience and diagnostic value of dynamic magnetic resonance imaging

Chest. 1994 Mar;105(3):931-3. doi: 10.1378/chest.105.3.931.

Abstract

Shortness of breath after pneumonectomy is a common finding that has multiple causes. We report the cases of two patients with shortness of breath on assuming an upright posture (platypnea) that followed pneumonectomy; these individuals developed right-to-left shunt across a patent foramen ovale (PFO) with normal right-sided intracardiac pressures. Both contrast echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including a recently introduced dynamic ultrafast imaging technique, proved helpful in diagnosing this condition noninvasively.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Dyspnea / etiology*
  • Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / diagnosis*
  • Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / surgery
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Pneumonectomy*
  • Postoperative Complications / diagnosis*
  • Postoperative Complications / etiology
  • Posture / physiology*