Left Atrial Thrombus-Are All Atria and Appendages Equal?

Alberto Cresti; Oscar Camara

doi:10.1016/j.ccep.2023.01.008

Left Atrial Thrombus-Are All Atria and Appendages Equal?

Card Electrophysiol Clin. 2023 Jun;15(2):119-132. doi: 10.1016/j.ccep.2023.01.008.

Authors

Alberto Cresti¹, Oscar Camara²

Affiliations

¹ Cardiology Department, Misericordia Hospital, Azienda Sanitaria Toscana SudEst, Via Senese, Grosseto 58100, Italy.
² BCN MedTech, Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Tànger 122, Barcelona 08018, Spain. Electronic address: oscar.camara@upf.edu.

PMID: 37076224
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccep.2023.01.008

Abstract

Although the left atrial appendage (LAA) seems useless, it has several critical functions that are not fully known yet, such as the causes for being the main origin of cardioembolic stroke. Difficulties arise due to the extreme range of LAA morphologic variability, making the definition of normality challenging and hampering the stratification of thrombotic risk. Furthermore, obtaining quantitative metrics of its anatomy and function from patient data is not straightforward. A multimodality imaging approach, using advanced computational tools for their analysis, allows a complete characterization of the LAA to individualize medical decisions related to left atrial thrombosis patients.

Keywords: Appendage occlusion; Atrial fibrillation; Atrial thrombosis; Computational tools; Left atrial appendage.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Atrial Appendage* / diagnostic imaging
Atrial Fibrillation*
Echocardiography, Transesophageal / adverse effects
Echocardiography, Transesophageal / methods
Heart Atria / diagnostic imaging
Heart Diseases* / diagnostic imaging
Humans
Thrombosis* / diagnostic imaging