Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula: a case in childhood

The authors describe a rare case of congenital, bilateral arteriovenous fistulas of the lung, without other symptoms of hemorrhagic telangiectasis. The disease was diagnosed in a ten-year-old child, because of a chronic hypossiemia state. The angiography with digitalized technique defined, at the best, the vascular anomalies; the examen cannot be substituted by other imaging methods. First a therapeutic embolisation in angiography was tried without success because of the dimension of the arteriovenous shunt. Then a local excisional therapy was carried out, on one lung. One year after the operation, the oxygenative and clinical conditions of the patient are excellent.