Cardiac CT assessment of left atrial accessory appendages and diverticula.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence, morphology, size, and location of left atrial abnormalities including diverticula and accessory appendages in consecutive patients undergoing cardiac-gated CT for coronary artery evaluation.


METHODS
Routine retrospectively gated contrast-enhanced 64-MDCT angiography (0.75-mm collimation, 330-milliseconds gantry rotation time) was performed in 529 consecutive patients. CT data sets were evaluated using axial, sagittal, coronal, and interactive multiplanar reconstructions; maximum intensity projections (MIPs); and interactive volume rendering. The presence, type, and location of left atrial appendages and diverticula were recorded.


RESULTS
One hundred twenty-one patients had left atrial accessory appendages (n = 20) or left atrial diverticula (n = 81) or both (n = 20). One hundred four left atrial diverticula were found in 101 of the 529 patients (20%) and 44 accessory appendages in 41 patients (8%). Of the atrial diverticula, 88% were superior and anterior, 9% were right lateral superior, and 3% were inferior. Of accessory appendages, 34% were inferior posterior, 32% were left inferior, 18% were superior anterior, 14% were inferior posterior, and 2% were right inferior posterior. The average sizes of diverticula were 6.4 +/- 2.5 x 6.2 +/- 2.4 mm, and accessory appendages were 4.9 +/- 2.1 x 3.9 +/- 2.4 mm.


CONCLUSIONS
Left atrial diverticula and accessory appendages are commonly found on cardiac-gated CT.
Abbara
Suhny
S
Department of Radiology, Section of Cardiovascular Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit St. (GRB-290), Boston, MA 02114-2696, USA. sabbara@partners.org
Mundo-Sagardia
Jorge A
JA
Hoffmann
Udo
U
Cury
Ricardo C
RC
D000368:Aged; D016477:Artifacts; D003287:Contrast Media; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D004240:Diverticulum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D003287:Contrast Media