Extrinsic airway compression secondary to pulmonary arterial conduits: MR findings

Abstract

Abnormal enlargement or malposition of any vascular structure or mass adjacent to the airway can cause extrinsic airway compression. In children with previous surgery for congenital heart disease, mass effect from prosthetic devices or alteration in the anatomic position of normal structures can lead to extrinsic airway compression. Because many children have complex medical problems after cardiac surgery, wheezing may be attributed to cardiac causes and airway compression may not be investigated. Furthermore, the distal airway compression seen in these children often is not visualized on chest radiographs. MR imaging can be useful in evaluating extrinsic airway compression in these patients. We present the MR imaging of two patients with symptomatic extrinsic airway compression secondary to pulmonary arterial conduits.