RIGHT-TO-LEFT INTERATRIAL SHUNT CAUSING PLATYPNEA AFTER PNEUMONECTOMY- A RECENT EXPERIENCE AND DIAGNOSTIC-VALUE OF DYNAMIC MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING

Shortness of breath after pneumonectomy is a common finding that has m ultiple causes. We report the cases of two patients with shortness of breath on assuming an upright posture (platypnea) that followed pneumo nectomy; these individuals developed right-to-left shunt across a pate nt foramen ovale (PFO) with normal right-sided intracardiac pressures. Both contrast echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including a recently introduced dynamic ultrafast imaging technique, p roved helpful in diagnosing this condition noninvasively.