[Left atrial dissection. Review]

The left atrial dissection is a rare complication occurring mainly after mitral surgery, thoracic trauma, myocardial infarction and infectious endocarditis. The clinical diagnosis can be confused with isolated prosthetic dysfunction, myocardial infarction. Its onset and, its form of presentation vary widely, concerning to the intensity and to the moment in which the symptoms appear. The most important data for its diagnostic are the antecedents and a new systolic murmur, although this last one can be absent. The transesophageal echocardiogram is the first choice for diagnosis since, the dissection can be missed by transthoracic echocardiogram. The treatment is surgical, two different types of surgical approaches have been reported. The prognosis depends on the extension of the dissection, tissue quality and associated complications.