[An autopsy case of racemose hemangioma of bronchial arteries associated with neovascularization from the chest wall after ligation and frequent embolizations].

We report an autopsied 33 year old pregnant woman with racemose hemangioma of the bronchial arteries. She was first given a diagnosis of racemose hemangioma of the bronchial arteries at age 19 and underwent surgical ligation. Nevertheless, she had to be admitted to the hospital for bronchial artery embolizations every time hemoptysis recurred. In her 21st gestational week, she was admitted to our hospital because of her 9th recurrent massive hemoptysis and dyspnea. Bronchial artery embolizations were repeatedly performed under intubation to ventilate the healthy left lung separately. We succeeded in temporarily stopping the hemoptysis, but her case was complicated by bacterial pneumonia and septic shock. Her baby was born dead on day 11 and she died on day 12. The autopsy revealed abnormal convoluted and dilated arteries branching from the right intercostal and subclavian arteries and intruding into the lung parenchyma through adhesion caused by her previous thoracostomy. The connections of these abnormal arteries with pulmonary arteries and veins, which had been shown by angiography, were confirmed by autopsy. The autopsy findings suggest that temporal surgical procedures with thoracostomy in this condition can induce abnormal neovascularization via pleural adhesion.