Cardiac myxoma is usually a benign tumor in the left atrium that accounts for more than 50% of primary cardiac tumors. A 55-year-old female referred to our hospital with chest pain, referred pain to the left hand, and severe dyspnea. Transthoracic Doppler Echocardiography was performed and the results showed a large and mobile left atrial mass without any attachment to the interatrial septum. I...

A 73-year-old man with new onset atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response underwent transthoracic echocardiography that revealed an echogenic linear structure along the left atrium, suggestive of cor triatriatum sinister (CTS). CTS was confirmed with transesophageal echocardiography which demonstrated a proximal accessory atrium receiving pulmonary venous flow separated from a distal...

Hyperthyroidism has been associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), however, hyperthyroidism induced ion channel changes which may predispose to AF have not been fully elucidated. To understand the electrophysiological changes occurring in left and right atrium with hyperthyroidism, the patch-clamp technique was utilized to compare action potential duration (APD) and whole cell currents in myocy...

A persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is formed by the remains of the oblique vein of the left atrium, which is not completely degenerated during embryonic development. The incidence is approximately 0.3% in the general population. Approximately 80-92% of PLSVCs drain into the right atrium through the coronary sinus. This report describes a rare case of PLSVC in which the coronary sinus ...

In the course of the evaluation of five patients with left atrial myxoma, it was noted that the movement of the myxoma was related to specific changes in left atrial hemodynamics. Prolapsing tumors, Type I, move from the left ventricle to the left atrium in early systole and from the left atrium to the left ventricle in early diastole, thereby causing prominent c and v waves accompanied by a ra...

In this thesis, we present novel medical image analysis methods to improve planning and outcome evaluation of cardiac ablation procedures. Cardiac ablation is a common medical procedure that consists of burning cardiac tissue causing atrial fibrillation, or irregular contractions of the heart’s atria. We first propose a method for the automatic delineation of the left atrium in magnetic resonan...

The purpose of the present study was to validate the recording of left atrial activity from the pulmonary artery in man. Fifteen patients with atrial septal defect or patent foramen ovale were studied. Atrial activity was recorded simultaneously from the pulmonary artery and the high left atrium either during sinus rhythm or during paced ectopic atrial rhythm. The results have shown a close sim...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Ectopic activity originating inside the pulmonary veins has been associated with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in some patients. However, the roles played by the pulmonary veins and the posterior wall of the left atrium in maintaining atrial fibrillation are not well understood. METHODS Our aim was to determine whether there is a correlation between the refractory...

Giant left atrium is a condition characterized by huge enlargement of the left atrium with a diameter exceeding 65mm. It is most commonly associated with long standing rheumatic mitral valve disease. We present a 45-year-old female patient with rheumatic mitral stenosis associated with giant left atrium occupied by an 11 × 10 × 5 cm thrombus weighing 500 gms. The patient underwent successful mi...