All issues > Volume 52(12); 2009

Case Report

Korean J Pediatr. 2009;52(12):1392-1395. Published online December 15, 2009.

A case of pulmonary vascular air embolism in a very-low-birth-weight infant with massive hydrops

Myo Jing MJ Kim², Hee Joon HJ Yu¹, Cha Gon CG Lee¹, Soo Kyoung SK Park¹, Yun Sil YS Chang¹, Won Soon WS Park¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, Busan, Korea

Correspondence Won Soon WS Park ,Email: wspark@smc.samsung.co.kr

Abstract

Pulmonary vascular air embolism is a rare and, universally, almost a fatal complication of positive pressure ventilation in newborn infants. Here, we report a case of this unusual complication in a very-low-birth-weight infant who showed the clinical and radiological features of this complication along with pulmonary hypoplasia and massive hydrops. The possible pathogenesis has been discussed and a brief review of related literature has been presented.

Keywords :Pulmonary embolism, Very-low-birth-weight, Hydrops fetalis