title: Intra-atrial smoke-like echoes and thrombi formation.
abstract: Between December 1980 and December 1987, approximately 6,000 two-dimensional echocardiographic examinations were performed in our noninvasive cardiac laboratory. During this period, five cases of intra-atrial smoke-like echoes were diagnosed. The four patients with dense smoke-like echoes in the left atria all had echocardiographic evidence of severe mitral stenosis and thrombi in the left atrial cavity, both of which were confirmed at open-heart surgery. One patient with right-sided cardiomyopathy had echocardiographic evidence of dense smoke-like echoes and thrombus in the right atrial cavity. One of our five patients was receiving anticoagulant therapy, and none had a history of thromboembolism. We conclude that using conventional two-dimensional echocardiographic techniques, smoke-like echoes in the atria are a very infrequent finding and are very commonly associated with formation of thrombi.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Chia
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Choo
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Ee
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Shears
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis*