Management of an unusual presentation of aneurysm of the ductus arteriosus

A NEURYSM OF the ductus arteriosus (DAA) is a relatively rare but potential ly fatal condition. The aneurysm may occur either spontaneously or result a s a complication after surgical closure of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) .(1,2) Forty cases of DAA after surgical closure of PDA have been reported to date.(2,3) The diagnosis of DAA in the pre-1969 period was established a t autopsy or during exploratory thoracotomy for suspected lung or mediastin al tumor.(4) DAA is now more frequently diagnosed preoperatively because of improved diagnostic methods, such as echocardiography(5) and computed tomo graphy. The authors present the successful anesthetic management of a very large fa lse aneurysm of the ductus arteriosus (DA) that presented as a case of coll apse and consolidation of the left lung.