2013 Volume 27 Issue 6 Pages 782-786
A male patient in his 30's was referred to our hospital because of hemoptysis. Chest CT showed the left pulmonary artery supplying the S6 segment of the left lower lobe but not the basal segment, and an aberrant artery arising from the thoracic aorta and supplying the left basal segment. The bronchial tree was normal. We diagnosed this patient with an anomalous systemic arterial supply to the normal basal segment of the left lower lobe. During surgery, the left S6 segment looked almost normal, suggesting that the segment could be preserved. We performed a left basal segmentectomy and closure of the anomalous systemic artery completely by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (cVATS). The aberrant artery with a diameter of 8 mm was cut using a stapler alone. He had an uneventful postoperative course, and was discharged on postoperative day 10. At 5 months, he was in good health without hemoptysis. There have been some negative comments on cVATS for this anomaly from the aspect of safety, but, recently, some cases safely undergoing cVATS lobectomy or basal segmentectomy have been reported. We also performed cVATS left basal segmentectomy, with no safety problems.
