Pulmonary venoocclusive disease primarily affects the postcapillary venous pulmonary vessels and may involve significant pulmonary capillary dilation and/or proliferation. PVOD is an uncommon cause of pulmonary artery hypertension (PPH; see 178600), a severe condition characterized by elevated pulmonary artery pressure leading to right heart failure and death. PVOD accounts for 5 to 10% of 'idiopathic' PPH and has an estimated incidence of 0.1 to 0.2 cases per million. The pathologic hallmark of PVOD is the extensive and diffuse occlusion of pulmonary veins by fibrous tissue, with intimal thickening present in venules and small veins in lobular septa and, rarely, larger veins. Definitive diagnosis of PVOD requires histologic analysis of a lung sample, although surgical lung biopsy is often too invasive for these frail patients. Patients with PVOD respond poorly to available therapy, therefore it is crucial to distinguish PVOD from other forms of PPH. Radiologic characteristics suggestive of PVOD on high-resolution CT of the chest include nodular ground-glass opacities, septal lines, and lymph node enlargement. In addition, because PVOD mainly affects postcapillary vasculature, it causes chronic elevation of pulmonary capillary pressure and thus promotes occult alveolar hemorrhage, which may be a characteristic feature of PVOD (summary by Montani et al., 2008).
Genetic Heterogeneity of Pulmonary Venoocclusive Disease
See also PVOD2 (234810), caused by mutation in the EIF2AK4 gene (609280) on chromosome 15q15. [from
OMIM]