Lung Ultrasound in Congenital Cardiac Abnormality: ALCAPA

Indian J Pediatr. 2021 Feb;88(2):161-164. doi: 10.1007/s12098-020-03208-z. Epub 2020 Feb 11.

Abstract

Anomalous origin of left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a life-threatening ischemic congenital cardiac disease, resulting in myocardial dysfunction and heart failure within the first year of life. The authors report the case of a 1-mo-old infant with a radiological diagnosis of pneumonia handled with point-of-care lung ultrasound (POCUS) due to the persistence of dyspnea, despite a week of antibiotic therapy. Lung ultrasound showed a non-univocal interpretation of the lesion and gave indication to the second level instrumental diagnostics that confirmed the presence of ALCAPA. There is no case of lung ultrasound aiding to the early diagnosis of ALCAPA and no indirect ecographic signs of ALCAPA that have been described in literature yet.

Keywords: ALCAPA; Lung ultrasound; POCUS; Pulmonary; Ultrasound.

MeSH terms

  • Bland White Garland Syndrome*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Lung / diagnostic imaging
  • Pulmonary Artery / diagnostic imaging
  • Ultrasonography