Key result
Giant left atrium measuring ~15 cm causes severe thoracic compression after mitral-valve replacement.
Case Report (n=1)
This case highlights an extreme presentation of a giant left atrium secondary to rheumatic heart disease and mitral stenosis.
Giant left atrium may cause ascites post-mitral replacement; leaves open optimal management of extreme enlargement.
A 59-year-old woman with a history of rheumatic heart disease presented with an eight-month history of increasing ascites. Her condition was complicated by mitral stenosis, which had required a Bjork–Shiley mitral-valve replacement 20 years earlier. Chest radiography showed massive cardiomegaly (Panels A and B). A computed tomographic scan of the chest (Panel C) revealed severe enlargement of the left atrium (LA), which measured 15.0 by 15.8 cm and filled the entire lower right hemithorax; the scan also revealed anterior displacement of the Bjork–Shiley valve (arrow) and compression of the left ventricle (LV), right ventricle (RV), and right atrium (RA) against . . .
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Tung et al. (2004) conducted a case report in Giant Left Atrium (n=1). A 59-year-old woman with a history of rheumatic heart disease and prior mitral-valve replacement presented with a giant left atrium measuring 15.0 by 15.8 cm causing compression of adjacent structures.
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