Pulmonary veins stenosis after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation as the cause of haemoptysis: three cases and a literature review.

BACKGROUND: Haemoptysis is a common clinical symptom with a complicated aetiology. Patients usually visit pulmonologists initially and are misdiagnosed due to physician ignorance regarding the rare causes of haemoptysis.

METHODS: We report three cases of haemoptysis due to pulmonary vein stenosis accompanied by catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation and review the related literature.

RESULTS: The three patients presented haemoptysis and they all had the history of catheter ablation. They received kinds of non-invasive and invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Finally they were confirmed to have pulmonary vein stenosis by either pulmonary angiography or thorax computed tomography three-dimensional reconstructions.

CONCLUSIONS: Haemoptysis could be caused by pulmonary vein stenosis secondary to catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation. Doctors should be aware of this rare aetiology.