title: Left atrial appendage: variations in morphology and position causing pitfalls in pediatric echocardiographic diagnosis.
abstract: The left atrial appendage is a complex structure that exhibits great variability in structure and form. Hence, it may masquerade as several other cardiac structures by echocardiography and cause errors in diagnosis. This report critically reviews the pitfalls that result in misinterpretation of normal and abnormal anatomy in a pediatric echocardiogram, and discusses and illustrates potential misdiagnoses and methods to avoid them.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Maimonides Medical Center, New York, New York, USA. pramaswamy@maimonidesmed.org <pramaswamy@maimonidesmed.org>
authors.forename: Prema
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ramaswamy
authors.forename: Irene D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Lytrivi
authors.forename: Shubhika
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Sangeeta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: H Helen
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Ira A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Parness
authors.forename: Wyman W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D020517:Atrial Appendage / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'