Bronchial Obstruction Caused by a Dilated Pulmonary Artery

Gurkirat Sandhu; Dikshya Sharma; Kartikeya Rajdev; Saad Habib; Dany El-Sayegh

doi:10.7759/cureus.5354

Bronchial Obstruction Caused by a Dilated Pulmonary Artery

Cureus. 2019 Aug 9;11(8):e5354. doi: 10.7759/cureus.5354.

Authors

Gurkirat Sandhu¹, Dikshya Sharma¹, Kartikeya Rajdev², Saad Habib¹, Dany El-Sayegh³

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, Staten Island University Hospital, Northwell Health, Staten Island, USA.
² Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, USA.
³ Pulmonary Critical Care, Staten Island University Hospital, Northwell Health, Staten Island, USA.

Abstract

Airway obstruction from an enlarged pulmonary artery (PA) is not a common occurrence. We present a rare case of respiratory failure secondary to right bronchus obstruction from a dilated right PA. A 54-year-old male with a known history of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) presented with worsening dyspnea. He was found to have collapse of his right middle and lower lobes. Intubation was required for respiratory failure. To our knowledge, this is the first case to be reported in the literature where PH caused PA dilatation to such a degree as to cause bronchial obstruction and subsequent lobar collapse.

Keywords: bronchial obstruction; dilated pulmonary artery; pulmonary hypertension; respiratory failure.

Publication types

Case Reports