[Pulmonary glomangiosis (author's transl)]

The clinical aspects, differential diagnosis and aetiology of the rare pulmonary glomangiosis are described by means of four cases observed in our clinic. It is a hamartogenous stenosing disease of the lungvessels, appearing predominately in children who suffer from congenital heart disease. It leads to pulmonary hypertension. The pulmonary glomangiosis is of practical importance: By palliative operation as the banding of the pulmonary artery the demand hypertension in the pulmonary circulation is suppressed artificially, so that in heavy cases a sufficient oxygenation is not provided, and the children die in the postoperative period. From the surgical aspect such a disease of the pulmonary vessels has to be supposed when the blood pressure distally of the experimentally banded pulmonary artery drops insufficiently. The authors recommend to exclude the disease of the vessels by excicion of lungtissue and immediate histologic investigation before the final banding is performed.