A 4-mm patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) was serendipitously diagnosed during intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography for a noncardiac procedure in an obese adult patient with a history of decreased exercise tolerance and dyspnea, despite a negative preoperative transthoracic examination. This uncommon event poses questions regarding the relevance of this finding to the differential diagnosis of dyspnea in an obese adult with a negative transthoracic echocardiography study, given the unknown prevalence of this pathology and the absence of consensus regarding the clinical management.
Keywords: adult congenital heart disease; echocardiography; education (all levels); heart failure; imaging (all modalities); patent ductus arteriosus (patent arterial duct).