A rare complication of balloon pulmonary angioplasty: Aortopulmonary window and its treatment

Surgical repair, balloon dilatation, and stenting are good treatment options for stenosis in the branches of the pulmonary artery (1, 2). Balloon angioplasty may cause complications such as aneurysm formation, vessel dissection or rupture, iatrogenic aortopulmonary window (APW) formation, and temporary unilateral lung edema (2-5). Iatrogenic APW has been rarely reported after pulmonary angioplasty (2, 3). Acute formation of APW causes increased volume load on the left heart and leads to congestive heart failure. Here we report a rare case of iatrogenic APW with congestive heart failure that did not respond to medical treatment.