[Evaluation of left atrial thrombi with computed tomography (author's transl)]

Left atrial thrombi were evaluated by computed tomography in 42 patients with valvular diseases. In eight of them, left atrial thrombi were delineated by computed tomography. Five of these eight had history of systemic thrombosis, and in four left atrial thrombi were confirmed by cardiac surgery or autopsy and the location and size of thrombi were well compatible with those detected by computed tomography. Thrombi were not detected angiographically in two and echocardiographically in three. The minimum size of thrombus detected by computed tomography was 3.5 g and the largest was 40 g in weight. Computed tomography is essentially non-invasive and appears to be one of the best methods to detect left atrial thrombi.