Juxtaposition of atrial appendages associated with normally oriented ventricles and great arteries.

A case is reported of a stillborn infant in whom both atrial appendages lay to one side of the great arteries, so-called juxtaposition of the atrial appendages. The unusual features of the case reported are twofold. First, both atrial appendages lay to the right of the great vessels while, more commonly, juxtaposed atrial appendages lie to the left of the aorta and pulmonary trunk. Second, in our case the great vessels were normally related and no major intracardiac malformations were present (only an atrial septal defect and a bicuspid pulmonary valve), while, more commonly, the great vessels are transposed and major intracardiac malformations are associated.