Abstract
After surgical repair of an aortic coarctation a term infant presented with severe pulmonary hypertension and cyanosis unresponsive to treatment including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. The atypical clinical course became apparent once the accompanying diagnosis of congenital alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of the pulmonary veins had been established at autopsy. In infants with congenital heart defects and with refractory pulmonary hypertension unexplainable on anatomic findings, a lung biopsy at the time of cardiac repair should be considered to avoid further therapies that would not alter the uniformly fatal course of this rare lung disorder.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdallah HI, Karmazin N, Marks LA (1993) Late presentation of misalignment of lung vessels with alveolar capillary dysplasia. Crit Care Med 21:628–630
Al-Hathlol K, Phillips S, Seshia MMK, Casiro O, Alvaro RE, Rigatto H (2000) Alveolar capillary dysplasia. Report of a case of prolonged life without extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and review of the literature. Early Hum Dev 57:85–94
Cullinane CC, Cox PN, Silver MM (1992) Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn due to alveolar capillary dysplasia. Pediatr Pathol 12:499–514
Garola RE, Thibeault DW (1998) Alveolar capillary dysplasia with and without misalignment of pulmonary veins: an association of congenital anomalies. Am J Perinatol 15:103–107
Janney CG, Askin FB, Kuhn C III (1981) Congenital alveolar capillary dysplasia: an unusual cause of respiratory distress in the newborn. Am J Clin Pathol 76:722–727
Lane JR, Siwik E, Preminger T, Stork E, Spector M (1999) Prospective diagnosis of alveolar capillary dysplasia in infants with congenital heart disease. Am J Cardiol 84:618–620
Langston C (1991) Misalignment of pulmonary veins and alveolar capillary dysplasia. Pediatr Pathol 11:163–170
Licht C, Schickendantz S, Sreeram N, Arnold G, Rossi R, Vierzig A, Mennicken U, Roth B (2004) Prolonged survival in alveolar capillary dysplasia syndrome. Eur J Pediatr 163:181–182
Rabah R, Poulik JM (2001) Congenital alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins associated with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Pediatr Dev Pathol 4:167–174
Sen P, Thakur N, Stockton DW, Langston C, Bejjani BA (2004) Expanding the phenotype of alveolar capillary dysplasia (ACD). J Pediatr 145:646–651
Singh SA, Ibrahim T, Clark DJ, Taylor RS, George DH (2005) Persistent pulmonary hypertension of newborn due to congenital capillary alveolar dysplasia. Pediatr Pulmonol 40:349–353
Steinhorn RH, Cox PN, Fineman JR, Finer NN, Rosenberg EM, Silver MM, Tyebkhan J, Zwass MS, Morin FC (1997) Inhaled nitric oxide enhances oxygenation but not survival in infants with alveolar capillary dysplasia. J Pediatr 130:417–422
Acknowledgment
We are indebted to Prof. Dr. H.H. Popper, Head of the Pulmonary Pathology Working Group of the Department of Pathology, Medical University of Graz, for diagnosing this rare neonatal disorder and for the histological material for this publication.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gamillscheg, A., Zobel, G., Spuller, E. et al. Aortic Coarctation Associated with Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia and Misalignment of the Pulmonary Veins. Pediatr Cardiol 29, 191–194 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-007-9063-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-007-9063-5