Cardiac, lung, and brain thrombosis in a child with obstructive sleep apnea

Abstract

A 3-year-old boy with failure to thrive and severe adenotonsillar hypertrophy with a clinical presentation of prolonged obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), was referred to the emergency room due to severe respiratory distress and anasarca. Echocardiography revealed right heart failure, a cystic lesion in the right ventricle and severe pulmonary hypertension. D-dimer was elevated but spiral computerized tomography (CT) and lung scan did not show any perfusion defects. Excision of the cardiac lesion during open-heart surgery, lung biopsy, and adenotonsillectomy were performed. Pathological examination showed an intracadiac organized thrombus and eccentric intimal fibrosis of the pulmonary arteries-which is a pathognomonic of pulmonary arterial microemboli. Brain CT revealed vein thrombosis of the left sigmoid sinus. Blood tests for inherited thrombophilia were normal. Today, 5 years after adenotonsillectomy, the child is normally developed, completely asymptomatic, free of any medications, and has a normal echocardiography. This case report may indicate that prolonged OSA can be a procoagulant state which can cause severe cardiovascular morbidity in children.