Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease in a female gardener.

Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) is a subgroup of pulmonary arterial hypertension with a poor prognosis. The diagnosis is usually delayed and treatment options other than lung transplantation are unfortunately limited. We report the case of 51-year-old female gardener diagnosed with PVOD by open lung biopsy before her death. Although there are many reported cases of hepatic veno-occlusive disease due to toxic agents present in nature, such as pyrrolizidine alkaloid exposure, to date this has not been linked to PVOD.