Case 58 -- Pulmonary Hypertension

Contributed by Kevin D. Horn, MD
Published on line in April 1996

Disclosure Statement: In accordance with the policies on disclosure of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the Faculty Advisory Committee for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, presenters for this program have identified no personal relationships with a health care product company which, in the context of their topics, could be perceived as a real or apparent conflict of interest.


PATIENT HISTORY :

The patient was a 20-year-old man with history of progressive dyspnea, cyanosis, and new onset of frank hemoptysis. The patient's past medical history was notable for a congenital cardiac anomaly, for which he underwent a corrective procedure at age 1. At age 2, he underwent a heart catheterization follow-up which apparently was favorable. He did reasonably well with intermittent dyspnea on exertion which was unexplained until age 10 when repeat heart catheterization revealed pulmonary hypertension. The patient developed severe worsening of his dyspnea shortly before death. He developed hemoptysis and hypotension and ultimately expired due to refractory pulmonary bleeding.

GROSS DESCRIPTION

MICROSCOPIC DESCRIPTION

FINAL DIAGNOSIS


Case 

IndexCME Case StudiesFeedbackHome