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World J Cardiol. Jan 26, 2016; 8(1): 81-88
Published online Jan 26, 2016. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v8.i1.81
Pulmonary vein stenosis: Etiology, diagnosis and management
Pablo Pazos-López, Cristina García-Rodríguez, Alba Guitián-González, Emilio Paredes-Galán, María Ángel De La Guarda Álvarez-Moure, Marta Rodríguez-Álvarez, José Antonio Baz-Alonso, Elvis Teijeira-Fernández, Francisco Eugenio Calvo-Iglesias, Andrés Íñiguez-Romo
Pablo Pazos-López, Cristina García-Rodríguez, Alba Guitián-González, Emilio Paredes-Galán, José Antonio Baz-Alonso, Elvis Teijeira-Fernández, Francisco Eugenio Calvo-Iglesias, Andrés Íñiguez-Romo, Department of Cardiology, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo, Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro, Vigo, 36312 Pontevedra, Spain
María Ángel De La Guarda Álvarez-Moure, Department of Radiology, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo, Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro, Vigo, 36312 Pontevedra, Spain
Marta Rodríguez-Álvarez, Diagnostic Imaging Unit, Galaria Empresa Pública de Servicios Sanitarios, Hospital do Meixoeiro, Vigo, 36312 Pontevedra, Spain
Author contributions: Pazos-López P performed the majority of the writing and prepared the figures and tables; García-Rodríguez C and Guitián-González A participated in the preparation and the initial review of the manuscript; Álvarez-Moure MADLG, Rodríguez-Álvarez M, Baz-Alonso JA, Teijeira-Fernández E and Calvo-Iglesias FE selected the figures and reviewed the final version of the manuscript; Íñiguez-Romo A coordinated the writing of the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Pablo Pazos-López, MD, Department of Cardiology, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo, Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro, Camiño dos Cañotais 44, Vigo, 36312 Pontevedra, Spain. pablo.pazos.lopez@gmail.com
Telephone: +34-98-6811111
Received: May 29, 2015
Peer-review started: June 2, 2015
First decision: August 22, 2015
Revised: September 5, 2015
Accepted: November 23, 2015
Article in press: November 25, 2015
Published online: January 26, 2016
Processing time: 237 Days and 11.3 Hours
Abstract

Pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) is rare condition characterized by a challenging diagnosis and unfavorable prognosis at advance stages. At present, injury from radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation has become the main cause of the disease. PVS is characterized by a progressive lumen size reduction of one or more pulmonary veins that, when hemodynamically significant, may raise lobar capillary pressure leading to signs and symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, and hemoptysis. Image techniques (transesophageal echocardiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance and perfusion imaging) are essential to reach a final diagnosis and decide an appropriate therapy. In this regard, series from referral centers have shown that surgical and transcatheter interventions may improve prognosis. The purpose of this article is to review the etiology, assessment and management of PVS.

Keywords: Pulmonary vein stenosis; Pulmonary vein stenosis etiology; Pulmonary vein stenosis causes; Pulmonary vein stenosis diagnosis; Pulmonary vein stenosis management; Pulmonary vein stenosis treatment

Core tip: Several papers in literature focus either on the causes, diagnosis or treatment of pulmonary vein stenosis. However this is simple yet complete and updated review of all these matters that may guide physician’s decision making when facing a suspected or confirmed case of this unusual disease.