A choice of basal segmentectomy instead of lobectomy performed for systemic origin of an aberrant artery to the basal segments of the left lung

Abstract

A fifty-four-year-old woman consulted our hospital because of sudden hemoptysis. A plain chest X-ray showed an abnormal shadow in the left lower lung field. Chest CT showed an aberrant artery supplying the left basal segments from the thoracic aorta, and the left basal pulmonary artery was not found. The aortogram demonstrated an aberrant artery supplying the left basal segments. Bronchoscopy disclosed a normal bronchial tree. There findings led us to the diagnosis of systemic origin of an aberrant artery to the basal segments of the left lung. At the operation, the normal appearance of the superior segment was clearly defined from the basal segments showing fibrous change. We, therefore, performed basal segmentectomy and preserved superior segment of the left lower lobe, where the bronchus the pulmonary artery and the pulmonary vein were normally set.