Methods Forty nine subjects undergoing clinically indicated right and left heart cardiac catheterization were prospectively recruited to undergo MRI in a 1.5T scanner. First pass perfusion using steady state free precession saturation recovery sequence was performed with gadolinium infusion at 0.01 mmol/kg. Global TT was defined as the time between the peaks of time intensity curves between the...

Compression of the left atrium by extra-cardiac structures is a rare cause of dyspnoea or reduced exercise tolerance and can easily be visualized by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). An impression of the left atrium visualized by TTE could be the first indication of the presence of a pathological structure dorsal to the left atrium; such a structure can, in time, compress the left atrium. T...

A 4-month-old infant with cyanosis but without other abnormal cardiac findings is presented in whom the diagnosis of anomalous systemic venous connection to the left atrium was made by contrast echocardiography. The diagnosis was later confirmed by cardiac catheterisation and selective cineangiography. When saline was injected into a vein on the dorsum of each hand while echocardiographically r...

Figure 1. Parasternal short-axis systolic frame at the level of the aortic valve. The Chiari network is located in the posterior right atrium. Although precise attachment sites could not be identified, real-time imaging suggested constrained motion near the interatrial septum. RA = right atrium; RV = right ventricle. pentine highly mobile reflective structure was noted in the right atrium (RA)....

A 42-year-old woman admitted with debilitation and engorgement both lower extremities. Transthoracic two-dimensional echocardiography, abdominal ultrasound and computerized tomography revealed a lobulated pelvic mass, a mass within right internal iliac vein, both common iliac vein, as well as the inferior vena cava, extending into the right atrium. In addition, echocardiography and abdominal ul...

Our understanding of the left atrium is growing, although there are many aspects that are still poorly understood. The left atrium size as an imaging biomarker has been consistently shown to be a powerful predictor of outcomes and of different cardiovascular disorders, such as, but not limited to, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, mitral regurgitation and stroke. Left atrial functi...

Introduction. Venous thromboembolic disease is a common complication found in 8% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia. The location at the right atrium is exceptional. These last fifty years, only 6 cases of thrombosis of the atrium in the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia were published on PubMed search engine. Case Presentation. 35-year-old farmer, who had been admitted by emergency depa...

The duration of the monophasic action potential (APD), the interval between atrial beats and the delay time between excitation of the right and left atria of dogs were measured, using coaxial suction electrodes, before and during vagal stimulation. The effect of vagal stimulation on the degree of shortening of APD varied at different recording sites in the atrium, the shortening being more pron...

Introduction Atrial fibrillation (AF) is rare in patients after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) and most commonly has been described in the setting of acute rejection or transplant vasculopathy. The principal reason postulated for the rarity of AF after OHT is the fact that the pulmonary veins and posterior left atrial (LA) wall are isolated as a direct result of the left atrioatrial ana...

Massive left atrial wall calcification, or porcelain atrium, is very rare. We describe a case of an unusual pattern of cardiac calcification demonstrated on routine preoperative chest X-ray for cataract surgery in a 71-year-old Nigerian woman. Past medical history was significant for mitral stenosis and atrial fibrillation. Radiographic imaging revealed curvilinear high density areas of calcifi...