An unusual presentation of pulmonary artery sarcoma: Several pseudoaneurysms with massive hemoptysis

Abstract

A 53-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department with sudden onset of massive hemoptysis. She had previous history of dyspnea and cough for two months. She had no history of chronic disease, smoking, or use of anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs. On arrival, she was tachycardic and tachypneic, but her body temperature was normal. Chest X-ray showed enlarged right hilus and multiple nodular opacities predominantly in the left lung basis. Computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest demonstrated massive intraluminal filling defect extending from the right pulmonary artery through the main and left pulmonary arteries. Pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS) was the preliminary imaging-based diagnosis. However, CT also revealed presence of several pseudoaneurysms arising from the distal branches of the left pulmonary artery encased by metastatic nodules. Although hemoptysis is an uncommon presentation for patients with PAS, accompanied pseudoaneurysms were the main reason for massive hemoptysis. Differentiation of PAS from bland thromboembolism could be challenging on CT. Herein reported case provides an additional imaging feature that may utilize differentiating pulmonary artery sarcoma from bland thrombus.