Key result
Under-recognized pulmonary vein stenosis after cardiovascular surgery and RF ablation mimics interstitial lung disease.
Why the study?
Pulmonary vein stenosis is rare, difficult to diagnose, and often misdiagnosed as airway disease, pneumonia, malignancies, or interstitial lung disease.
Pulmonary vein stenosis is an important differential diagnosis in patients presenting with respiratory symptoms and interstitial lung abnormalities after cardiac procedures like radiofrequency ablation or surgery.
Consider pulmonary vein stenosis in post-procedure respiratory symptoms; leaves open true incidence and optimal screening.
Pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) is a rare condition, often difficult to diagnose and associated with poor prognosis at advanced stages. Lung parenchymal abnormalities are indirect evidence of PVS and can manifest as multifocal opacities, nodular lesions, unilateral effusions, and interstitial septal thickening. These can lead to erroneous diagnoses of airway disease, pneumonia, malignancies or interstitial lung disease. This review summarizes the current literature about the approach to, evaluation and management of these patients. Our case report demonstrates that PVS is an under-recognized complication of cardiovascular surgery and should be considered in all patients presenting with respiratory symptoms after a cardiac procedure.
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Carriço et al. (2020) conducted a review in Pulmonary vein stenosis. Cardiac surgery or radiofrequency ablation was evaluated. Pulmonary vein stenosis is an under-recognized complication of cardiovascular surgery and radiofrequency ablation that can mimic interstitial lung disease.
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