New onset of pulmonary hypertension in a patient affected by recurrent lung cancer

Abstract 39 years old non–smoker female patient came to our observation in July 2023 complaining dyspnea on mild exertion. She had a history of lung adenocarcinoma with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) positive for exon 19 deletion treated with left pneumonectomy and ipsilateral hilar mediastinal lymphadenectomy 5 years earlier, and contralateral disease progression currently treated with chemotherapy. Transthoracic echocardiogram showed circumferential prepericardial effusion requiring pericardiocentesis with transient clinical benefit. Indeed, after a month, she presented with worsening dyspnea and echocardiographic evidence of dilated and hypokinetic right ventricle and severe pulmonary hypertension associated with distal right pulmonary artery stenosis secondary to extrinsic compression by the neoplastic mass as shown by the chest CT scan (fig 1). A right heart catheterization confirmed this finding (minimum diameter of right pulmonary artery of 6 mm, maximum systolic pulmonary blood pressure of 99 mmHg) and a palliative stenting of the distal portion of the right pulmonary artery was performed with resolution of the stenosis, reduction of the pulmonary gradient (fig 2 and 3) and resolution of the dyspnea.