Surgical complications after lung transplantation are relatively common, mainly in the first month.1 We would like to present a case of an aortic dissection as a surgical complication.
This is a 64-year-old male who underwent double lung transplantation. The postoperative period proceeded without significant complications and the standard postoperative tests did not show relevant abnormalities.
After discharge, the patient started with progressive dyspnea and a chylothorax was diagnosed. A CT scan was performed to determine the cause, and incidentally, it revealed that the suture of the median sternotomy had come loose, which was likely the origin of the chylothorax. During readmission the pleural drainage remained high, so a new chest CT scan was done and we could see that one of the wires from the sternotomy was directed towards the mediastinum (Figs. 1 and 2), next to the ascending aorta and the trunk of the pulmonary artery. A type A aortic dissection (AD) from the aortic root to the aortic arch was diagnosed.
This is the first case that describes an AD as a complication after sternal suture wire migration in a lung transplantation patient. Although this complication, the patient evolution after 1 year is satisfactory.
Informed consentWe have obtained the patient's consent to publish this article after providing the necessary information.
This study has not passed the ethics committee because it is not necessary to present this clinical case.
FundingNo funding was needed to create this paper.
Authors’ contributionsAll three authors have contributed to the creation of this paper.
Conflicts of interestThe authors declare no conflicts of interest.
