Key result
Transesophageal echocardiography can misidentify an LAA lobe with transverse sinus effusion as a mass.
Highlights a potential pitfall in transesophageal echocardiography where a left atrial appendage lobe with a small pericardial effusion can mimic a mass lesion.
Caution advised interpreting en face LAA views on TEE to avoid mistaking normal structures for masses; single case leaves open prevalence and impact.
We describe an elderly patient undergoing ablation for atrial fibrillation in whom, two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography showed a mass-like lesion in or adjacent to left atrial appendage (LAA). This mass-like effect was produced by en face visualization of the top of a LAA lobe in the presence of a small effusion in the transverse sinus of the pericardium.
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Giove et al. (2011) studied this question. Transesophageal echocardiography can reveal a mass-like lesion in the left atrial appendage caused by en face visualization of an LAA lobe with a small transverse sinus effusion.
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