Pulmonary hypertension in stiff left atrial syndrome: pathogenesis and treatment in one

We present the rare case of a patient with pulmonary hypertension in the context of the stiff left atrial syndrome after extensive catheter ablation, a unique constellation characterized by high pulmonary artery and pulmonary artery wedge pressures due to left atrial dysfunction but normal left ventricular end-diastolic pressure, normal mitral valve, and absence pulmonary vein stenosis. This patient was surprisingly oligosymptomatic, however, which may have been due to a persistent post-puncture atrial septal defect, which may have allowed for controlled left atrial decompression, which is in line with the novel concept of the catheter-based creation of an intracardiac shunt as a treatment for heart failure.