We describe the case of a 67-year-old woman with an anomalous systemic arterial supply to the basal segment of the lung, which was managed successfully by transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) with microcoils. Her chest computed tomography (CT) scan showed diffuse ground-glass opacity in the left lower lobe, no bronchial abnormalities, and blood supply from an anomalous artery originating from the descending thoracic aorta, with drainage to the normal pulmonary vein. We successfully performed TAE under balloon occlusion of the anomalous artery, without complications. TAE is a minimally invasive, safe, and valuable method, and could be used as first-line treatment in such cases.

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A patient with previous catheter ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation was examined for an abnormal shadow on a chest radiograph. ECG-gated multidetector CT clearly showed the left upper pulmonary vein connected with the left inferior pulmonary vein. We hypothesize an intrapulmonary venous connection as a collateral.

We examined whether the superior margin of the left main bronchus is the best landmark for the starting position of computed tomography coronary angiography CTCA . We retrospectively evaluated 693 consecutive CTCAs. From the scout scanogram, the superior margin of the left main bronchus was noted. The relationships among and distance between the superior margin of the left main bronchus and the left coronary system were analyzed. The superior margin of the left main bronchus extended caudally to the superior margin of the left coronary system in 13 patients 1.9 . The addition of 1 cm to the superior margin of the left main bronchus kept it caudal to the superior margin of the left coronary system in only one patient 0.1 . On the scout scanogram, 1 cm above the superior margin of the left main bronchus is the most appropriate starting position for CTCA.

No abstract