Why the study?
Left atrial appendage aneurysm is a rare cardiac pathology that is typically identified in adulthood and extremely rare in pediatric patients.
Pediatric left atrial appendage aneurysm is extremely rare but can be successfully managed with surgical resection to prevent complications.
Successful resection of incidental pediatric LAAA demonstrates feasibility; leaves open standardized management and natural history data.
Left atrial appendage aneurysm (LAAA) is a rare cardiac pathology that is often identified in adulthood. There are a myriad of presentations related to atrial appendage enlargement, but most are asymptomatic. Pediatric cases of LAAA are extremely rare. We report a case of an incidental giant LAAA found in a healthy 6-year-old boy. He was successfully treated with surgical resection. A review of the literature shows that the presentation of LAAA in pediatrics likely involves cardiac or respiratory symptoms but can also be incidental findings. Similar to adults, diagnosis requires cardiac imaging, with echocardiography being the mainstay. Surgical intervention is indicated in symptomatic and most asymptomatic patients to prevent complications. More research is warranted into the optimal timing of surgery and alternative surgical approaches for complex cases.
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Norozi et al. (2023) studied this question.
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