PULMONARY ARTERIOVENOUS-FISTULA IN A PATIENT WITH RENDU-OSLER-WEBER-SYNDROME

Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula (PAVF) is an abnormal connection betwe en pulmonary arteries and veins. Patients with PAVF may have the Rendu -Osler-Weber syndrome, a disease transmitted by autosomal dominant mec hanisms. Here we describe a. case of PAVF in a 56-year-old women, who was admitted to our department because of dyspnea, hemoptysis, and a m ass in the left lower lung found on chest X-ray, The diagnosis of PAVF was suspected according to clinical and physiological criteria and co nfirmed by magnetic resonance imaging of the chest, The PAVF was remov ed by left lower lobectomy. Anamnestic and clinical investigations of the patient's relatives led to the diagnosis of the Rendu-Osler-Weber syndrome.