Ground-glass opacity in a patient with right aortic arch and no left pulmonary artery

Here we report a case of patients with mixed ground glass opacity in the left lung combined with congenital right aortic arch, which is only present in 0.01-0.1% of adults.

A 60-year-old woman was referred to our department with a mixed ground-glass opacity (GGO) in the upper lobe of her left lung. She had congenital right aortic arch, and the left pulmonary artery was absent. Enhanced chest computed tomography, pulmonary perfusion imaging, and three-dimensional reconstruction were performed to confirm the blood supply in the left lung and the exact location of the GGO. Because of the unusual left pulmonary vascular structure, wedge resection was performed to prevent massive hemorrhage. The final pathological examination revealed that the mixed GGO was a well-differentiated pulmonary adenocarcinoma.

The surgical options should be evaluated carefully in view of the complications and the prognosis of the patient, when ground glass opacity is combined with congenital cardiovascular anomalies.