[Cor triatriatum sinistrum--value of pulmonary vein flow in hemodynamic assessment]

We report on two patients (a 52-year-old female and a 32-year-old male) with cor triatriatum sinistrum, both clinically inconspicuous. The former had undergone strenuous athletic training without difficulty for eight years of her youth. In both cases, cor triatriatum sinistrum was found by chance during transthoracic echocardiography undertaken for hypertension. The exact insertion-site of the left atrial membrane only became apparent by using biplane transoesophageal echocardiography. Neither of the patients showed associated cardiac malformation. Hemodynamics were evaluated by pulsed waved Doppler analysis of pulmonary venous flow profile; no signs of inflow obliteration into the left atrium were found in either case.