title: Left atrial wall dissection: a rare sequela of native-valve endocarditis.
abstract: Left atrial wall dissection is a rare condition; most cases are iatrogenic after mitral valve surgery. A few have been reported as sequelae of blunt chest trauma, acute myocardial infarction, and invasive cardiac procedures. On occasion, infective endocarditis causes left atrial wall dissection. We report a highly unusual case in which a 41-year-old man presented with native mitral valve infective endocarditis that had caused left atrial free-wall dissection. Although our patient died within an hour of presentation, we obtained what we consider to be a definitive diagnosis of a rare sequela, documented by transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography.
authors: Marwan
authors: M
authors: Saad
authors: Ahmad
authors: A
authors: Isbitan
authors: Alaa
authors: A
authors: Roushdy
authors: Fayez
authors: F
authors: Shamoon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000209:etiology*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D004696:Endocarditis / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006322:Heart Aneurysm / Q000209:etiology*; D006325:Heart Atria; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Aneurysm, dissecting/etiology; dissection, vascular/etiology; echocardiography, transesophageal; echocardiography, transthoracic; endocarditis, infective/complications/sequelae; heart atria/ultrasonography; heart valve, native