RESUMEN
ABSTRACT: Abdominal pain is one of the most common presenting complaints encountered in the pediatric emergency department. The use of point-of-care ultrasonography by emergency physicians has been shown to expedite the diagnosis of a large variety of conditions and can be used to accurately identify intra-abdominal pathology in children. We describe the case of a pediatric patient who presented to the pediatric emergency department with acute abdominal pain, in whom point-of-care ultrasonography helped expedite the diagnosis of acute portal vein thrombosis and liver abscess.
Asunto(s)
Sistemas de Atención de Punto , Trombosis de la Vena , Niño , Humanos , Pruebas en el Punto de Atención , Vena Porta/diagnóstico por imagen , Ultrasonografía , Trombosis de la Vena/diagnóstico por imagenRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Haemoptysis is an uncommon presenting symptom in children and is usually caused by acute lower respiratory tract infection or foreign body aspiration. We report a rare case of right unilateral pulmonary vein atresia (PVA) as the underlying aetiology of recurrent haemoptysis in a child. CASE PRESENTATION: A 4 years old girl presented with history of recurrent haemoptysis. Bronchoscopic evaluation excluded a foreign body aspiration but revealed right bronchial mucosal hyperaemia and varices. Diagnosis of right unilateral PVA was suspected on transthoracic echocardiography which demonstrated hypoplastic right pulmonary artery and non-visualization of right pulmonary veins. Final diagnosis was confirmed on cardiac CT angiography. A conservative treatment approach was opted with consideration for pneumonectomy in future when she is older. CONCLUSION: Rarer causes should be considered when investigating for recurrent haemoptysis in children. Bronchoscopy and cardiac imaging are useful tools to establish the diagnosis of unilateral PVA in our case.