Course: A 65-Year-Old Woman With Dyspnea and Recurrent Abdominal Distension
CME Credits: 1.00
Released: 2023-04-05
A 65-year-old woman with prior hysterectomy reported 6 months of abdominal distension refractory to paracentesis. Severe dyspnea prompted computed tomography (CT) pulmonary artery angiography, which excluded pulmonary embolism but revealed giant right atrium (RA) (, A). The differential diagnosis of giant RA includes pulmonary hypertension and congenital anatomical disorders that increase cardiac preload. Catheterization excluded pulmonary vascular disease; however, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging suggested left-to-right shunt, manifest by increased pulmonary to systemic blood flow (Qp/Qs ratio, 1.8). Reanalysis of the CT images showed an anomalous connection involving the left pulmonary vein (blue arrowhead) and left brachiocephalic vein (red arrowhead) (, B).
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