Wheezing as the sole clinical manifestation of cor triatriatum.
Cardiac malformations involving low-pressure chambers (i.e., either of the atria) are more often diagnosed later in life than lesions that involve high-pressure systems such as ventricular septal defects or persistent ducti arteriosi. Patients with congenital heart disease involving the atria may present only symptoms suggesting lung disease. We report on a child with recurrent episodes of wheezing, which did not respond to albuterol nebulizations and intravenous corticosteroids; he was subsequently found to have cor triatriatum. When a patient suffers from recurrent episodes of lower pulmonary infection and wheezing, despite appropriate management for asthma, less common (including cardiac) causes should be considered.
Pisanti
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IV Divisione di Pediatria, Modulo di Broncopneumologia, I Divisione di Pediatria, Modulo di Ecocardiografia Pediatrica, Ospedale per Bambini della SS. Annunziata ASL NA1, Naples, Italy.
Vitiello
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D003310:Cor Triatriatum / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology*; D014463:Ultrasonography