Kodikara Sarathchandra, Sivasubramanium Murugapillei
Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, 20400, Sri Lanka.
Leg Med (Tokyo). 2009 Apr;11 Suppl 1:S496-7. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2009.02.068. Epub 2009 Apr 1.
Pulmonary artery aneurysms are rare. The estimated incidence is 1 in 14,000 in autopsies. Bilateral main pulmonary artery aneurysms have not been previously reported in the literature. A 36-year-old woman who has been diagnosed as having an ostium secundum defect with severe pulmonary hypertension was found dead. Autopsy revealed an emaciated body. The heart was enlarged. Right atrium and ventricle were dilated. There were bilateral unruptured main pulmonary artery aneurisms. Atheromatous plaques of the pulmonary artery were seen. There was no thrombosis. Histology confirmed the pulmonary artery aneurysm and pulmonary atheroma. The cause of death was concluded as right heart failure due to bilateral main pulmonary artery aneurisms caused by an ostium secundum defect of the heart.