Tomography (Jan 2022)

Systemic Artery to Pulmonary Artery Shunt Mimicking Acute Pulmonary Embolism, Unmasked by a Multimodality Imaging Approach

  • Brieg Dissaux,
  • Pierre-Yves Le Floch,
  • Romain Le Pennec,
  • Cécile Tromeur,
  • Pierre-Yves Le Roux

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/tomography8010014
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 175 – 179

Abstract

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In this report, we describe the functional imaging findings of systemic artery to pulmonary artery shunt in V/Q SPECT CT imaging. A 63-year-old man with small-cell lung cancer underwent CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for suspected acute pulmonary embolism (PE). The CTPA showed an isolated segmental filling defect in the right lower lobe, which was initially interpreted as positive for PE but was actually the consequence of a systemic artery to pulmonary artery shunt due to the recruitment of the bronchial arterial network by the adjacent tumor. A V/Q SPECT/CT scan was also performed, demonstrating a matched perfusion/ventilation defect in the right lower lobe.

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