Pulmonary sequestration--report of three cases

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary sequestration is a non-functioning pulmonary parenchyma that is separated from tracheobronchial tree and receives its blood supply via systemic arteries. The diagnosis of sequestration pulmonis is based on clinical symptoms and characteristic radiologic findings. CASE REPORTS: In this report, radiological findings of pulmonary sequester in three patients with non-resolving pneumonia were retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent chest x-ray, computerized tomography of thorax and angiography. X-ray revealed in all cases tumorlike, unsharply bordered shadows in the posterior basal parts of the lung, two on the right and one on the left side. Computerized tomography (CT) finding showed solid-cystic tumor masses and angiography revealed anomalous blood supply from systemic arteries arising from aorta and running to the shadow in the lung. This finding is typical of bronchopulmonary sequestration. All patients were operated on and histological analysis of operative material confirmed diagnosis of intralobar pulmonary sequestration. DISCUSSION: Sequestration pulmonis can cause a diagnostic problem due to unspecific symptoms and atypical radiographic and CT findings. Therefore, it is important to demonstrate the arterial supply and venous drainage of the sequestered segment preoperatively. Today, with the help of non-invasive imaging techniques such as CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), preoperative diagnosis of pulmonary sequester can be made easily, so, invasive techniques such as angiography are not required frequently.