Chest
Volume 94, Issue 3, September 1988, Pages 665-666
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Idiopathic Isolated Pulmonary Arteritis with Chronic Cor Pulmonale

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Multiple obstructions of the proximal pulmonary arteries were found in a patient with pulmonary hypertension and chronic cor pulmonale without any systemic arterial lesions. An operation to relieve severe stenosis at the right main pulmonary artery provided great clinical improvement. Pathologic examination of the biopsied specimen revealed a nonspecific panarteritis with giant cells consistent with idiopathic isolated pulmonary arteritis. (Chest 1988; 94:665-66)

Section snippets

CASE REPORT

A 57-year-old man was admitted for evaluation of pulmonary arterial obstructive lesions. He was well until four years before admission when he began to experience dyspnea on exertion. Six months before admission, peripheral edema developed and he was admitted to another hospital where pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial obstructions were demonstrated.

On examination, his temperature was 36.4°C, the pulse rate was 76, and respirations 14. The blood pressure was 110/60 mm Hg. The

DISCUSSION

It is not difficult to differentiate the pulmonary inflammatory lesion of this case from many other types of vasculitis because of the site of lesions, namely: proximal, elastic pulmonary arteries. The inflammatory lesion in this case is nonspecific of giant cells, and these are almost the same as those seen in Takayasus arteritis.1 The incidence of pulmonary arterial involvement in Takayasus arteritis is high. Lupi et al2 reported it to be 50 percent. These lesions are mainly obstructive, and

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