title: Giant left atrium with rheumatic mitral stenosis.
abstract: A chest radiograph of a 38-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with rheumatic mitral stenosis, revealed cardiac enlargement due to a giant left atrium that was distorting the cardiac structures. The patient's cardiothoracic ratio was approximately 0.90. A giant left atrium can readily be delineated by echocardiography. Optimal timing of surgery is important in cases of mitral stenosis, because delaying mitral valve replacement can lead to fatal outcomes. To our knowledge, the left atrial diameter of 18.7 cm that we found in our patient is the largest reported to date.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Siyami Ersek Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Center, 34668 Istanbul, Turkey. drmates@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ates
authors.forename: Yavuz
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sensoz
authors.forename: Gunseli
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abay
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akcar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011859:Radiography; D012214:Rheumatic Heart Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography