Pulmonary artery dissection mimicking mediastinal mass

Mutlu, Halil; Demir, Ihsan Ekin; Mutlu, Lynn N.; Doyle, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.hrtlng.2008.05.004

« Previous Next »Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Volume 38, Issue 3 , Pages 233-237, May 2009

Pulmonary artery dissection mimicking mediastinal mass

Halil Mutlu, MD
- Departments of Internal Medicine and Critical Care, Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- Cardiovascular Research Foundation, New York, New York
- Corresponding author: Halil Mutlu, MD, Angiographic Core Laboratory, Cardiovascular Research Foundation, 111 East 59th Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10022-1122
- These authors contributed equally to this article.
Ihsan Ekin Demir, MS
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Germany
- These authors contributed equally to this article.
Lynn N. Mutlu, PAC
- Departments of Internal Medicine and Critical Care, Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Daniel Doyle (Assistant Professor of Medicine)
- Departments of Internal Medicine and Critical Care, Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, Massachusetts

published online 29 August 2008.

Pulmonary artery dissection (PAD) is a rare diagnosis that is often made postmortem in patients with pulmonary hypertension. It can be visualized by echocardiography, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging. We present a patient with emphysematous chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and secondary pulmonary hypertension in whom a PAD appeared like a mediastinal mass on computed tomography. The diagnosis was made at autopsy. We think that physicians should consider the possibility of a PAD in patients with chronic pulmonary hypertension who present with dyspnea and chest pain.