Unusual origin and course of the left pulmonary artery

Abstract

An infant with a cardiac murmur was found to have a patent arterial duct and an anomalous left pulmonary artery. The duct was surgically ligated at the age of 8 months, and she remained free of cardiac or respiratory symptoms up to her death at 6 years from an unrelated intestinal condition. An anomaly was discovered at post mortem examination; the left pulmonary artery arose from the right pulmonary artery and passed behind the trachea to enter the left lung. We describe and illustrate the anatomic features of this well-recognized entity, discuss the embryological substrate, and refer to the clinical implications.

The bronchopulmonary foregut malformation complex

“…The abnormal vascular arrangement typical of the aberrant left pulmonary artery was likely first described in 1897 by Glaeveche and Doehle, 266 and the designation of vascular sling was probably first introduced in 1958 by Contro et al 267 The typical appearance of the pulmonary arterial sling has since been widely published. [268][269][270][271][272][273][274] There can be no confusion between the classic horseshoe lung and the typical pulmonary arterial sling. But just as there are unusual variations of the horseshoe lung, so are there atypical pulmonary arterial slings.…”