Prenatal diagnosis of a pulmonary arteriovenous malformation

Abstract

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) are caused by abnormal communications between pulmonary arteries and pulmonary veins. They are most often congenital, and may occur as isolated lesions or part of complex congenital syndromes. We describe a case of PAVM in a 16-week-old fetus. To the best of our knowledge this is the first case to be described in the literature of diagnosis, at such an early gestational age, of PAVM with the shunt found between the main pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein.