Idiopathic pulmonary vein thrombosis: An unexpected cause of respiratory distress and acute heart failure. A case report and review of the literature

• Published in: African Journal of Emergency Medicine Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 135 - 138
• Main Authors: El Ghoul, Jamel, Milouchi, Sami, Ferjani, Soued, Abid, Omar, Ghourabi, Abdesslam, Sghaier, Ahmed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands African Federation for Emergency Medicine 01-09-2017; Elsevier
• Subjects: Case Report
• ISSN: 2211-419X; 2211-4203
• DOI: 10.1016/j.afjem.2017.05.008

Pulmonary vein thrombosis is a potentially fatal disease. The association between pulmonary vein thrombosis and chronic heart failure has not been described in the literature.
Herein, we report a case involving a 73-year-old woman, with a medical history of ischemic congestive heart failure, who was hospitalised for acute decompensated heart failure with respiratory distress. A computed tomography pulmonary angiography was performed to rule out the possibility of pulmonary embolism, and it showed evidence of pulmonary vein thrombosis. No cause was determined for the pulmonary vein thrombosis; hence, it was considered idiopathic and anticoagulation therapy was initiated for the patient. However, the patient died a few days after admission to the intensive care unit.
This case of pulmonary vein thrombosis is presented to promote awareness of this disease entity. We also want to emphasize the importance of maintaining a high index of clinical suspicion for this diagnosis, particularly in patients with acute decompensated heart failure who are refractory to standard therapy.