title: Cardiac CT imaging in the context of left atrial appendage occlusion.
abstract: Left atrial occlusion devices are a recognized treatment option in patients with difficult to treat atrial fibrillation or intolerance to warfarin therapy. There are an increasing number of devices on the market, and good quality preoperative imaging is crucial to assess the feasibility of the procedure and help plan the occlusion. Electrocardiography-gated cardiac CT is ideal for this purpose as the high spatial and temporal resolution allow accurate measurements and reformats in multiple planes. As the imaging specialist reporting the CT may not necessarily be the interventionalist performing the implantation, this review will illustrate the important points in reporting the preimplant CT. The expected postoperative appearances and potential complications will also be described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Monash Health, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton 3168, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: dryune@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yune
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre, Monash Health, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing, Department of Biomedical Radiation Science, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Troupis
mesh_terms: D020517:Atrial Appendage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D055424:Cardiac-Gated Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D055989:Septal Occluder Device; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Atrial appendage; Atrial fibrillation; Humans; Multidetector computed tomography; Prostheses and implants