A Case of Fatal Acute Lung Injury after Balloon Valvuloplasty of Pulmonary Stenosis: Case Report and Review of Literature

A newly described immediate complication after percutaneous pulmonary valvuloplasty is acute lung injury. Here we report a case of fatal acute lung injury after pulmonary valvuloplasty. The patient was a 26-year-old woman, referred to a general hospital with the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis. In her work-ups severe pulmonary stenosis was detected and so a decision was made to relieve the valve stenosis. Despite the procedural success, the patient developed severe dyspnea and desaturation a few hours later and died within 3 days due to shock state. Although the definition, incidence or severity of acute lung injury after pulmonary balloon valvuloplasty is not yet clear, this is as far as we know the first mortality reported in literature. This presentation in our patient should prompt clinicians to consider a more aggressive approach at the first sight of this previously considered innocent complication.