Pulmonary Arterio-Venous Malformation

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM) is an abnormal communication between the pulmonary artery and the pulmonary vein. PAVMs are usually congenital in origin. In this study we reported a 32-year-old woman that was referred to the clinic with the chief complain of frequently coughs and hemoptysis for three months. Also, her past medical history revealed that she had a thoracotomy and decortication of the right lung due to clotted hemothorax, about 12 years ago while she had a term pregnancy. CT angiography and spiral CT-scan demonstrated cystic-masses in the right hemithorax. These masses were enhanced like pulmonary vessels and had feeding artery and evacuator vein. So, three PAVMs were diagnosed in the right lung. The patient underwent right postrolateral thoracotomy. Two of the PAVMs were in the lower lobe which treated by resection but the one in the middle lobe was completely intraparenchymal and it could not be localized during the surgery so the lobectomy of the right middle lobe was performed.