Unusual Giant Right Atrium in Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis and Tricuspid Insufficiency

Abstract

Dilation and hypertrophy of the atria occur in patients with valvular heart disease especially in mitral regurgitation, mitral stenosis or tricuspid abnormalities. In sub-saharan Africa, rheumatic fever is still the leading cause of valvular heart disease. We report a case of an unusual giant right atrium in context of rheumatic stenosis and severe tricuspid regurgitation in a 58-year-old woman.

Giant Right Atrium

“…Both tricuspid valve stenosis and insufficiency can lead to right atrial dilatation. The underlying pathology in our patient was tricuspid valve insufficiency that continued to progress after mitral valve replacement (2) . The first case report in literature was published in 1955; since then, more than 100 reports have been published.…”

The role of angiography in the congruence of cardiovascular measurements between autopsy and postmortem imaging

“…In spite of the anatomical proximities and the pathological functioning [42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51] that urged our study to analyze the correlation between the right atrium and the tricuspid valve, the right ventricle and the pulmonary valve, the left atrium and the mitral valve, and the left ventricle and the aortic valve, our results did not display any correlation. This outcome could be explained by two hypotheses.…”