Author/Authors :
Lark, Mary College of Medicine - Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA , Cai, Amanda Department of Cardiology - Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA , Rideout, Phillip College of Medicine - Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA , Gregg, David College of Medicine - Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA , Suranyi, Pal Department of Cardiology - Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA , Crawford, Fred A. Department of Surgery - Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA , Fernandes, Valerian L. Department of Cardiology - Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Abstract :
Scimitar syndrome is a rare congenital abnormality resulting from right-sided pulmonary venous return to the inferior vena cava
rather than to the left atrium. It is usually detected in early childhood with symptoms of recurrent chest infection and finding of
pulmonary hypertension due to left to right shunt. We report a case of a 40-year-old woman with scimitar syndrome discovered
on chest X-ray during evaluation of recurrent pneumonia. Surgical correction was achieved with a novel technique of using a
synthetic graft connecting the scimitar vein across the right atrium to the left atrium along with ligation of the scimitar vein
connection to the inferior vena cava. The patient continues to do well 10 years after surgery, and the shunt graft shows good
flow on echocardiogram. We present her clinical and imaging data and details of the surgical technique along with a brief
review of surgical literature.
