The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 57, 1647-1649, Copyright © 1994 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Bilateral main bronchial compression caused by the ductal ligament
T Sugita, A Mori, S Watarida, M Onoe, S Shiraishi, T Nojima and Y Nakajima
Second Department of Surgery, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan.
Several authors have reported cases of respiratory distress resulting from
bronchial compression due to a hypertensive pulmonary artery in the setting
of a large left-to-right shunt. However, respiratory distress due to
bilateral main bronchial compression due to an enlarged pulmonary artery
suspended posteriorly by the ductal ligament following repair of a
ventricular septal defect is extremely rare. In this report, we advocate
the necessity of dividing the ductal ligament in some patients with large
left-to-right shunts when there are episodes of idiopathic respiratory
distress before operation.