[Cerebral abscess and pulmonary arteriovenous fistula. A clinical and respiratory function study]

Liz... Josiane, a 9 year old girl, was admitted with a 24 hours history of severe headache and vomiting. On admission she was conscious, irritable and complained of a severe headache. Clinical examination revealed a right hemiparesis with cyanosis of the lips and extremities and clubbing of the fingers, all consistent with chronic hypoxia. Cardiovascular examination was normal apart from a systolic murmur which could be heard posteriorly under the left scapula. There were no angiomatous or telangiectatic lesions of the skin. A blood examination revealed a raised ESR, a marked polycythaemia with a decreased arterial oxygen tension. Chest x-rays showed the presence of an irregular well delineated opacity in the posterior basal segment of the left lower lobe. This opacity was confluent with the ipsilateral hilum and was suggestive of a pulmonary arteriovenous fistula. An intracranial space occupying lesion in the left temporal region of the brain was revealed by electroencephalographic and CT scan investigations; this proved to be an abscess which was surgically removed with no subsequent complications. Further radiological investigations of the chest revealed the pulmonary lesion was an arteriovenous aneurysm occupying the whole left inferior lobe. This was removed at thoracotomy three months after the acute neurological event. The results of respiratory function and regional isotopic investigations before and after surgery will be discussed.