Pulmonary artery sling

Abstract

Introduction: Pulmonary artery sling is a rare congenital vascular anomaly in which the left pulmonary artery originates from the right pulmonary artery, encircles the distal trachea and right main stem bronchus, and requiring early surgical interventions. Case presentation: We report a 8-month old girl who presented with 3 consecutive episodes within 2 months of recurrent respiratory symptoms and signs masquerading pneumonia. CT thorax and echocardiography showed an anomalous origin of the left pulmonary artery from the right pulmonary artery passing behind the trachea. A left pulmonary artery reimplantation without tracheoplasty was performed. The child recovered slowly but uneventfully after surgery, and was discharged home in good health after 2-month-stay in the hospital. Conclusion: Although rare, pulmonary artery sling should not be overlooked in the differential diagnosis of children with recurrent respiratory symptoms. Prognosis after surgical repair without tracheoplasty seems to be good, and follow-up needs to be done routinely to identify the long-term consequences.

Keywords

• Pulmonary artery sling
• Infants