Rupture of a pulmonary artery aneurysm

Pulmonary artery aneurysm (PAA) is a very rare disease. Such aneurysms are distinguished according to their form (saccular and fusiform) and origin (congenital and acquired). A case is reported of PAA rupture in a female patient, aged 58, that had long been ill with a rheumatic mitral valvular disease. A number of conditions favoured the origination of PAA and its disruption. They are: the existence of combined rheumatic heart disease, widespread posttuberculous pneumosclerosis with pulmonary emphysema and thrombosis of the right pulmonary artery as a result of chronic cardiovascular failure.