Prominent Crista Terminalis in a Fetus

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Fetal Medicine
• Echocardiography

Background:

• The crista terminalis is a normal anatomical structure within the right atrium.
• It is often not visualized on standard transthoracic echocardiography.
• Hypertrophy can lead to its visualization, potentially causing misdiagnosis as pathology.

Observation:

• This report details the first known instance of a prominent crista terminalis identified in a fetal echocardiogram.
• The prominent crista terminalis was observed in a developing fetus.

Findings:

• Confirms the presence of a prominent crista terminalis in a fetal subject.
• This finding extends the known population for this variant to include the prenatal period.

Implications:

• Accurate identification of a prominent crista terminalis is essential to avoid misdiagnosis of cardiac abnormalities.
• Increased familiarity with this variant on fetal and neonatal echocardiography can improve diagnostic accuracy.
• This benign variant requires correct differentiation from pathologic cardiac conditions.