Ultrasound Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Ultrasound, including details on screening, diagnosis, pregnancy, detection.

Left atrial appendage: variations in morphology and position causing pitfalls in pediatric echocardiographic diagnosis.

Ramaswamy P, Lytrivi ID, Srivastava S, Sharma S, Ko HH, Parness IA, Lai WW

Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Maimonides Medical Center, New York, New York, USA. pramaswamy@maimonidesmed.org <pramaswamy@maimonidesmed.org>

The left atrial appendage is a complex structure that exhibits great variability in structure and form. Hence, it may masquerade as several other cardiac structures by echocardiography and cause errors in diagnosis. This report critically reviews the pitfalls that result in misinterpretation of normal and abnormal anatomy in a pediatric echocardiogram, and discusses and illustrates potential misdiagnoses and methods to avoid them.

Published 1 August 2007 in J Am Soc Echocardiogr, 20(8): 1011-6.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Ultrasound Research Today. All Rights Reserved.