title: Drainage of the inferior vena cava to the left atrium.
abstract: Drainage of the inferior vena cava to the left atrium is an extremely unusual congenital heart disease. We describe a 54-year-old woman, in whom the diagnosis was suggested by transthoracic echocardiography, and then confirmed by a transesophageal exam and magnetic resonance imaging, which also revealed an associated secundum atrial septal defect. Surgical management involved reconstruction of the interatrial septum to include the inferior vena cava in the right atrium. The few previously reported cases in the literature are reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division, Geneva University Hospitals, 24 rue Micheli-du-Crest, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. burri-haran@diogenes.hcuge.ch
authors.forename: Haran
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Burri
authors.forename: Cédric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vuille
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sierra
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Didier
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lerch
authors.forename: Afksendyios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalangos
mesh_terms: D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery