Scimitar syndrome: Anaesthetic management for pulmonary resection of the unaffected lung

Abstract Scimitar syndrome is a rare congenital anomaly characterised by anomalous drainage of the right pulmonary veins in the inferior vena cava, frequently associated with right lung and pulmonary artery hypoplasia, dextrocardia and abnormal systemic arterial supply to the lower lobe. Pulmonary resection surgery on healthy lung is exceptional, and there are no published records of it, as far as we know. A man with scimitar syndrome diagnosed with a lung nodule with malignant features in the contralateral lung. This situation implies huge anaesthetic complexity, mainly for intraoperative ventilation. Although spirometry and stress test did not contraindicate the planned lobectomy, scintigraphy showed a hypoplastic right lung with an uptake of 15%. From an anaesthetic point of view we discarded selective ventilation of the right lung, since the shunt made it functionally non-existent. In consequence we proposed four anaesthetic possibilities. After the placement of an epidural catheter and left selective intubation, thoracoscopy with intermittent apnoeas was our first choice, and we could complete the extirpation and avoid excessive complexity.