Left Atrial Aneurysm

  • Etiology: congenital or acquired due to mitral regurgitation caused by inflammatory processes such as rheumatic heart disease, tuberculosis, syphilis
  • Imaging: most commonly found in left atrial appendage, check for thrombus in heart
  • Clinical: in infants can present as congestive heart failure due to pulmonary vein obstruction or as respiratory distress due to airway obstruction

Radiology Cases of Left Atrial Aneurysm

CXR and MRI and angiogram of left atrial aneurysm
CXR PA and lateral, coronal MRI T1WI without contrast, and a left atrial injection from an angiogram shows an extremely dilated left atrium.