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Right-to-left interatrial shunt causing platypnea after pneumonectomy. A recent experience and diagnostic value of
N Mercho1, J K Stoller, R D White
1Department of Internal Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
Chest
|March 1, 1994
Abstract:
Shortness of breath after pneumonectomy is a common finding that has multiple causes. We report the cases of two patients with shortness of breath on assuming an upright posture (platypnea) that followed pneumonectomy; these individuals developed right-to-left shunt across a patent foramen ovale (PFO) with normal right-sided intracardiac pressures. Both contrast echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including a recently introduced dynamic ultrafast imaging technique, proved helpful in diagnosing this condition noninvasively.