Anomalous systemic arterial supply of pulmonary sequestration in adult patients.

Objectives: This study described the characteristics of the systemic arterial supply of pulmonary sequestration (PS) in an attempt to better distinguish PS from other acquired lesions.

Methods: We identified 25 patients hospitalized at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital during January 2013 to December 2015 with the assistance of medical catalogers. Twenty-three patients with a definite diagnosis of "pulmonary sequestration" clinically or pathologically were included in the study. The medical records, imaging information, and pathological data were reviewed retrospectively. The general characteristics of the patients and the features of the anomalous arteries were summarized.

Results: Aberrant arterial supply of PS was found in all 23 (100%) cases. Among them, twenty patients received surgery, including 14 (70%) with aberrant arterial supply found before surgery, and the other 6 (30%) found during surgery. Nineteen (82.6%) patients had a single systematic arterial supply, with a median diameter of 8 mm. More than one arterial supplies were found in four (17.4%) cases. In 21 (91.3%) cases, the anomalous systemic artery originated from the descending thoracic aorta just adjacent to the sequestrated lung which it supplied, without the presence of accompanying bronchi. In twenty (87.0%) patients who received the surgical intervention, samples of 12 (85.7%) were proved to have elastic vessel walls, out of the 14 samples in which the anomalous systemic arteries were available for analysis.

Conclusions: There are no certain pathology diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of PS. The detecting of the aberrant systematic artery and distinguishing it from the bronchial arteries corresponded to certain lung abnormalities are the keys to the accurate diagnosis of pulmonary sequestration in adult patients. We propose that the characteristic features of the anomalous arteries include: Originating from aorta and its main branches, adjacent to the sequestrated area, directly running into the sequestrated mass without accompanying bronchus branch, being large in diameter, and having elastic vessel wall.