Intramural left atrial hematoma after aortocoronary artery surgery.
We report the occurrence of an intraoperative left atrial hematoma during coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. Echocardiography proved to be of great help in diagnosis and monitoring of this patient. After severe hemodynamic impairment the patient recovered and could be transferred on postoperative day eight. Follow-up examination showed no signs of atrial pathologies. Differential diagnosis and echocardiographic findings are discussed.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors report the utility of transesophageal echocardiography for diagnosis and management of an intramural left atrial hematoma during coronary artery surgery.
Musat
Iulian
I
*Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Lainz Hospital, †Surgical Department, Lainz Hospital, and the ‡Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Economics of Medicine in Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Vienna, Austria.
Hieber
Cornelia
C
Kepka
Anton
A
Novotny
Petrus
P
Poslussny
Peter
P
Schwarz
Sylvia
S
Fitzgerald
Robert D
RD
D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology; D006406:Hematoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000473:pathology*