A giant left atrial appendage aneurysm with recurrent chest tightness and atrial tachycardia: Multimodal imaging findings

Abstract

Left atrial appendage aneurysm (LAAA) is a rare cardiac anomaly that is usually incidentally found in middle-aged patients. Though initially asymptomatic, LAAA can cause some serious complications: atrial tachyarrhythmia, thromboembolism, peripheral compression, and cardiac dysfunction. Multimodal imaging technologies, especially echocardiography and computed tomography (CT) scanning play an important role in the diagnosis of LAAA. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is generally used for preliminary evaluation and diagnosis of the aneurysm. CT scanning can further confirm the diagnosis by demonstrating the spatial structure relationships and eliminating the possibility of other cardiac tumors. The following case study pertains to a 54-year-old patient with recurrent chest tightness and atrial tachycardia. The patient was diagnosed with a giant LAAA by multimodal imaging technology, and the aneurysm was surgically removed under cardiopulmonary bypass. After 4 years of follow-up, the patient reported living a healthy life without chest discomfort, complications, or medication. Multimodal imaging can provide important information for the diagnosis and treatment of left atrial appendage aneurysms, and aneurysm resection can be an effective therapeutic approach with a good long-term prognosis.

Keywords

• Left atrial appendage aneurysm
• Computed tomography
• Echocardiography
• Resection