Extrapericardial Pulmonary Vein Clamp Technique for Pulmonary Arteriovenous Fistula: Report of a Case

The major concern when operating on a patient with a neurologically symptomatic pulmonary arteriovenous fistula (PAVF) is how to prevent a thromboembolic event during surgery. We describe a new technique whereby the extrapericardial pulmonary vein is clamped before transecting the afferent and efferent vessels of the fistula. The potentially pooled clots that can form while manipulating lung are stopped by the clamp. Before the extrapericardial pulmonary vein is declamped, one of the drainage veins is incised halfway and the pooled blood containing the potential clots is completely washed out. We successfully performed segmentectomy using this technique in a 66-year-old man with chronic left hemianopia and a large PAVF in the left anteromedial and lateral basal segments, and no thromboembolic events occurred.