ABSENCE OF PULMONARY ARTERY BRiTiSH 493MEDICAL JOURNAL.displaced towards the affected side. The presence of a large pulmonary artery, which may even be aneurysmal, on the contralateral side and the absence of the shadow of a normal pulmonary artery at the hilum on the affected side are important signs. The latter feature may be difficult to appreciate on routine films, for the displaced heart may obscure the hilum. Penetrated films and tomograms of the hila are therefore of value. Bronchograms usually show a normal bronchial tree, as in the patient reported here, but in a few of the reported cases the affected lung has been small, in one case unilobar and in others agenetic. Confirmation of the absence of one of the pulmonary arteries can be obtained by angiocardiography.Summary A case of congenital absence of the left pulmonary artery occurring asymptomatically in a man of 30, associated with a right-sided aorta, is recorded. The literature is reviewed.
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