Items tagged “heart”

Cor triatriatum is an extremely rare and serious congenital cardiac anomaly. It is characterized by the presence of a fibromuscular membrane that divides the left or right atrium into two chambers (depending on the subtype). Epidemiology It is thought to account for ~0.1% of all congenital ca...

Cardiac amyloidosis (plural: amyloidoses) is a significant source of morbidity among patients with systemic amyloidosis and is the most common cause of restrictive cardiomyopathy outside the tropics. Pathology Amyloidosis represents the extracellular deposition of insoluble fibrillar proteinac...

Fetal bradycardia refers to an abnormally low fetal heart rate, a potentially ominous finding. A sustained first trimester heart rate below 100 beats per minute (bpm) is generally considered bradycardic. The average fetal heart rate changes during pregnancy, however, and some consider the lower ...

Atrial escape refers to a chest x-ray sign of massive left atrial enlargement and is an exaggerated version of the double density sign.   Normally, the right border of the left atrium is not visible. As it enlarges it forms a distinct border projecting through the right heart shadow, medial to ...

The walking man sign is seen on a lateral chest radiograph and is a sign of left atrial enlargement. It results from posterior displacement of the left main bronchus such that it no longer overlaps the right bronchus. The left and right bronchus thus appear as an inverted 'V', mimicking the legs...

Left ventricular aneurysms are discrete, dyskinetic areas of the left ventricular wall with a broad neck (as opposed to left ventricular pseudoaneurysms), thus often termed true aneurysms. Epidemiology True left ventricular aneurysms develop in less than 5% of all patients with ST-elevation my...

Pericardial agenesis is a rare condition where there is the absence of the pericardium to varying degrees. If it is only a small portion of the pericardium that is absent it is known as a pericardial defect. Epidemiology According to a surgical and pathological series, the prevalence (inclusiv...

An accessory left atrial appendage is a frequent fortuitous finding in cardiac imaging, encountered in ~10% of patients. They are more often seen as a small diverticular structure projecting from the right upper side of the left atrial wall. Differential diagnosis it must not be confused with ...

The cardiac plexus is a network of autonomic nerves and ganglia situated at the base of the heart. It is formed by cardiac branches derived from both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Gross anatomy Parasympathetic cardiac nerves reach the heart from the vagus nerve (cranial ...

The pulmonary veins drain oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium. A small amount of blood is also drained from the lungs by the bronchial veins. Gross anatomy There are typically four pulmonary veins, two draining each lung: right superior: drains the right upper and middle lobes ...