Large Patent Ductus Arteriosus Masked by High Altitude Hypoxia Until Descent to Sea Level

Alexa E Golbus; Aditya Mehta; Catherine E Tomasulo; Anurag Sahu; Marcus Y Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jaccas.2024.102262

Large Patent Ductus Arteriosus Masked by High Altitude Hypoxia Until Descent to Sea Level

JACC Case Rep. 2024 Apr 17;29(8):102262. doi: 10.1016/j.jaccas.2024.102262.

Authors

Alexa E Golbus¹, Aditya Mehta², Catherine E Tomasulo², Anurag Sahu^{1

2}, Marcus Y Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Cardiovascular Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
² INOVA Schar Heart & Vascular, Falls Church, Virginia, USA.

Abstract

We present a 41-year-old female with progressive shortness of breath immediately after moving to sea level from high altitude. The patient was found to have a large PDA with systemic RV and PA pressures and pulmonary hypertension, which resolved following PDA closure.

Keywords: congenital heart defect; echocardiography; hemodynamics; hypertension; imaging; pulmonary right-sided catheterization; shortness of breath.