Pulmonary arteriovenous malformation closure in a preterm newborn.

A 23-day-old preterm baby (1900 g) presenting with severe hypoxemia secondary to a large pulmonary arteriovenous malformation (PAVM), diagnosed by thoracic computed tomography (CT), was referred to our department. He was born at 32 weeks of gestation weighing 1945 g and, after birth, presented with severe hypoxemia (peripheral oxygen saturation [SpO2] 65%). The cardiac assessment was unremarkable. The initial diagnosis was congenital pneumonia with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn and he was treated with antibiotics and ventilated with nitric oxide. In the absence of clinical improvement a thoracic CT scan was performed, which raised suspicion of a PAVM (Figure 1). Cardiac catheterization performed under general anesthesia demonstrated a large PAVM in the right lower lobe