Stenosis of a Branch of the Pulmonary Artery

Three patients have been demonstrated by cardiac catheterization to have stenosis of a main branch of the pulmonary artery. Two exhibited continuous ductus-like murmurs at the chest wall over the site of stenosis. Demonstration of a pressure gradient throughout the cardiac cycle at the site of stenosis in these 2 patients and the experimental production in the dog of a continuous murmur at the site of partial constriction of a pulmonary artery prove that the murmur is due to the stenosis. This anomaly should be added to the differential diagnosis of continuous murmurs over the chest.