Anatomic identification of so-called absent pulmonary artery.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A postmortem study was done on 18 cases in which, clinically, there was absence of 1 or both pulmonary arteries. When no channel led from the right ventricle to a pulmonary artery, the involved vessel was said to be absent. Classic examples of pseudotruncus arteriosus were not included, nor were the usual varieties of persistent truncus arteriosus. In 7 of 18 cases the pulmonary trunk was patent and gave rise either to the left or right pulmonary artery. In this group, with the exception of 1 case of agenesis of the left lung and left pulmonary artery, the absent artery was present and arose from the ascending aorta or aortic arch, the latter modes of origin considered to be distal ductal origin. In 11 cases the pulmonary trunk was absent or atretic. With the exception of the right lung in 1 case, each lung of these cases was supplied by a pulmonary artery that was patent at least at the pulmonary hilus. Including the specimens with patent or absent or atretic pulmonary trunks, there were 8 pulmonary arteries with atretic or absent proximal segments. In 7 of these, dissection at the pulmonary hilus identified a patent artery into which an anastomosis or a conduit might have been possible. This study casts doubt on the existence of the condition called Truncus Type IV. It is supportive of efforts to identify patent hilar pulmonary arteries in patients initially considered to exhibit true absence of 1 or both pulmonary arteries.