  |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
19: De novo inverted left atrial appendage: an unrecognized cause of left atrial mass with symptoms mimicking myxoma. Ankersmit HJ, Mohl W, Moser B, Kocher A, Ehrlich M, Grimm M, Horvat R, Wolner E; The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery 2001 Jun;121(6):1211-3. Pubmed Link
When a patient has had a stroke,
echocardiography usually is performed to rule out cardiac foci for
embolization. Newly diagnosed atrial masses in this scenario are, as
determined by means of differential diagnosis, usually thrombi,
vegetations, or tumors.1 Therapy may be different for each of these
entities and include anticoagulation, antibiotics, or operation.
Recently, various reports have concentrated on inverted left atrial
appendages (LAAs) as an unusual complication after cardiac operations.
This rare manifestation is to be valued in our opinion as an
epiphenomenon of manual manipulation after cardiac operations and has to
be considered if a new mass is diagnosed by means of echocardiography.
However, it allows us to present a true inverted LAA, which became
symptomatic as a result of a stroke verified by computed tomography
(CT), and implies that such structures, as described in this report, are
thrombogenic and have to be removed surgically.
a PDF of this paper can be provided upon request
|
