Unilateral pulmonary artery agenesis with presentation of hemoptysis: a case report

Unilateral pulmonary artery agenesis (UPAA), a rare congenital anomaly frequently associated with other cardiovascular abnormalities, is usually diagnosed and surgically treated in childhood. Those who do not suffer other cardiac anomalies (isolated UPAA) have only minor or no symptoms and survive into adulthood. Isolated UPAA in adult patients may present as recurrent respiratory tract infection, dyspnea on exertion, hemoptysis or an incidental finding of an abnormal chest radiograph. We present the case of a 38-year-old man with a congenital absence of the right pulmonary artery (PA) and recurrent hemoptysis. The diagnosis was confirmed by cardiac catheterization, which disclosed an absence of the right PA and systemic collaterals to the right lung from the right internal thoracic artery and posterior intercostal arteries.