Five chambered heart: case of a huge left atrial appendage aneurysm

Abstract

Aneurysmal enlargement of the left atrial appendage is an extremely rare pathology and can predispose to adverse events, including cardiac arrest, respiratory distress, arrhythmia, heart failure, systemic thromboembolism, or rupture. It is usually diagnosed incidentally or after the occurrence of atrial tachyarrhythmias or thrombotic events in the second to fourth decades of life. We describe a rare case of a symptomatic giant congenital left atrial appendage aneurysm (lAAA) in a 26-year-old man presenting with neurologic event, in whom surgical resection of the aneurysm was successfully performed. This is the largest lAAA reported in the literature so far. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.