Silent pulmonary artery dissection in a patient with Eisenmenger syndrome due to ventricular septal defect: a case...

A 62-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of fever in August 2002. She had been treated under a diagnosis of Eisenmenger syndrome with ventricular septal defect since 1988. On admission, echocardiography and color Doppler echocardiography revealed a markedly enlarged pulmonary artery with a mobile flap, and dissection of the pulmonary artery. The origin of the fever could not be identified, and the fever subsided spontaneously without specific treatment. She had no chest pain, but fever might have been a sign of dissection in this patient. Longstanding pulmonary hypertension may cause dissection, which may lead to sudden death or pulmonary hemorrhage often seen in patients with Eisenmenger syndrome. Our patient was a rare survivor without serious bleeding complication.