Significance of atrial septal aneurysm: report of a case.
Postoperative stroke can have many etiologies including cerebral thrombosis, embolism, and hemorrhage. If there is a right-to-left intracardiac shunt, paradoxical embolism may also occur. Atrial septal aneurysm has been diagnosed with increasing frequency because of the accuracy of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Atrial septal aneurysm is also associated with patent foramen ovale and atrial septal defects. We report a case of a patient who developed a postoperative stroke one day after coronary artery bypass surgery. TEE performed in the intensive care unit revealed an atrial septal aneurysm with a right-to-left interatrial shunt, which may have resulted in paradoxical systemic embolism.
Department of Anesthesia, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202-5115, USA.
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Moorthy
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Dierdorf
D000368:Aged; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000209:etiology; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006322:Heart Aneurysm / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006325:Heart Atria; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006346:Heart Septum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D002542:Intracranial Embolism and Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications