Therapeutic pulmonary artery stenting for metastatic bronchial carcinoid

We present a case of a middle-aged man with a 3-month history of progressive shortness of breath and peripheral oedema. Ten years prior to this, he had undergone a left pneumonectomy for metastatic bronchial carcinoid. Clinical examination revealed significant right heart failure, supported by transthoracic echocardiography. CT pulmonary angiogram revealed the cause to be marked progression of the bronchial carcinoid causing severe external compression of right pulmonary artery (RPA). In view of the distressing symptoms, a palliative endovascular intervention to the RPA was attempted to relieve obstruction, improve blood flow through the right lung and offload the right ventricle. This was performed under general anaesthesia involving interventional cardiology and radiology specialists together with a specialist anaesthetic team with extensive experience of managing carcinoid patients. The result was a marked improvement in symptoms and right heart function and the patient was discharged 2 days later.