Key result
Congenital absence of the left atrial appendage was successfully visualized by 3D transesophageal echocardiography in two adult patients.
Case Report (n=2)
3D transesophageal echocardiography can effectively visualize congenital absence of the left atrial appendage, an extremely rare condition that must be differentiated from flush thrombotic occlusion.
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3D TEE may distinguish rare LAA absence from thrombosis; leaves open its diagnostic role without larger validation.
Congenital absence of left atrial appendage (LAA) is an extremely rare condition and its physiological consequences are unknown. We present two cases of incidental finding of a congenitally absent LAA in a 79-year-old male who presented for routine transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) to rule out intracardiac thrombus prior to placement of biventricular implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and a 54-year old female who presented for TEE prior to radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation. Characterization of patients with such an absence is important because congenitally absent LAA may be confused with flush thrombotic occlusion of the appendage. There are very few published reports of congenital absence of LAA. To our knowledge, our report is the first to demonstrate the congenital absence of LAA by 3D transesophageal echocardiography.
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Saleh et al. (2015) conducted a case report in Congenital absence of left atrial appendage (n=2). 3D transesophageal echocardiography was evaluated on Visualization of congenital absence of left atrial appendage. Congenital absence of the left atrial appendage was successfully visualized by 3D transesophageal echocardiography in two adult patients.
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