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(Circulation. 1999;100:684.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.

Images in Cardiovascular Medicine

Lipomatous Hypertrophy of the Atrial Septum

Mitsuru Noma, MD; Yutaka Kikuchi, MD

From the Department of Internal Medicine, Kyushu Kosei-Nenkin Hospital, Kitakyushu City, Japan.

Correspondence to Mitsuru Noma, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Kyushu Kosei-Nenkin Hospital, 2-1-1 Kishinoura, Yahata Nishi-Ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka 806-8501, Japan.

	Introduction

 
Subcostal 4-chamber view of transthoracic echocardiography revealed abnormal thickening of atrial septum (arrow) in a 43-year-old Japanese woman with frequent atrial premature beats (A). MRI was obtained by the ECG-gated spin-echo technique. T1-weighted image of the heart demonstrated large fatty deposits (arrow) in the atrial septum, which have been referred to as lipomatous hypertrophy of the atrial septum (B). Lipomatous hypertrophy of the atrial septum has been reported to be a cause of atrial arrhythmias. Massive fatty deposits are seen not only in the atrial septum but also in other parts of the heart, such as atrial walls and epicardium (arrowheads). RA indicates right atrium; RV, right ventricle; LA, left atrium; and LV, left ventricle.

View larger version (94K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1.

	Footnotes

 
The editor of Images in Cardiovascular Medicine is Hugh A. McAllister, Jr, MD, Chief, Department of Pathology, St Luke's Episcopal Hospital and Texas Heart Institute, and Clinical Professor of Pathology, University of Texas Medical School and Baylor College of Medicine.

Circulation encourages readers to submit cardiovascular images to Dr Hugh A. McAllister, Jr, St Luke's Episcopal Hospital and Texas Heart Institute, 6720 Bertner Ave, MC1-267, Houston, TX 77030.