J Am Soc Echocardiogr

Teardrop sign: echocardiographic features in cardiac herniation.

Tsang TS. Freeman WK. Miller FA Jr. Seward JB.
Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Cardiac herniation through an acquired pericardial defect is potentially fatal. Typically, symptoms manifest within days of a surgical procedure. We describe a patient with late ventricular herniation after surgical formation of an apical pericardial window.

Cerebrovascular emboli related to pulmonary venous thrombosis after lung transplantation.

Year 1998
Reilly MP. Plappert TJ. Wiegers SE.
Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104, USA.
We describe a case of cerebral emboli related to pulmonary venous thrombosis after bilateral lung transplantation in a young man with cystic fibrosis. The diagnosis was made by transesophageal echocardiography, leading to aggressive anticoagulation within 24 hours of surgery. Hemodynamic deterioration in the following hours was of concern for the development of obstructive thrombus but was found to be due to pericardial tamponade, which, remarkably, resolved during a repeat transesophageal echocardiography.

Echogenic structures in the left atrioventricular groove: diagnostic pitfalls.

Year 1998
Zuber M. Oechslin E. Jenni R.
Division of Echocardiography, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
A variety of echogenic structures that can be detected by echocardiography in the left atrioventricular groove are best seen in the parasternal long-axis view and can be missed if not carefully looked for. Normal anatomic structures or variants can be seen, for example, dilated coronary sinus, persistent left superior vena cava, or lipomatous tissue. Degenerative or inflammatory processes of the mitral annulus (calcification of the mitral annulus, mitral annular abscess) and aneurysms of the left circumflex coronary artery or of the descending aorta can depict pathologic structures. Hiatal hernia and tumors can be found as well.