The CT appearance of the giant left atrium

The Giant Left Atrium (GLA) is a well-known, albeit rare, complication of mitral valve disease. Although traditionally diagnosed by chest X-ray or echocardiography (1, 2), when the left atrium achieves massive proportions, these modalities may be difficult to interpret or even misleading. We report, not only the first description of this entity using computer tomography (CT), but also one of the largest left atria described in the literature. We feel that CT may be reliable when making this diagnosis as well as useful in evaluation of those patients in whom the symptoms suggest some of the complications of this disease.