Visualization of pulmonary vein obstruction by pulmonary artery wedge injection

Summary

One of the major postoperative complications of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection is obstruction of the pulmonary veins. This event may be apparent immediately after surgery when it is usually due to congenitally obstructed veins or later when it may be the result of failure of commensurate growth of the left atrium-common vein anastomosis or of scarring at the anastomotic site. The exact location of the obstruction becomes, then, of paramount importance in deciding if the patient can be helped by further surgery.

At cardiac catheterization, pulmonary artery wedge injection was the only angiographic technique that visualized the site and degree of pulmonary venous obstruction in the case reported here.