Anatomical variation of pulmonary venous ostium and its relationship with atrial arrhythmia in the Saudi population

To assess the anatomical variation of the ostial pattern of pulmonary veins observed on coronary computed tomography [CT] angiogram and to estimate the relationship of atrial arrhythmia with similar ostial variants in the Saudi population. Thin-section [0.625 mm] contrast enhanced CT scans of 151 consecutive patients obtained over a span of a two-year period [January 2009-January 2011] for the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease, aortic regurgitation, infective endocarditis, aortic aneurysm, fibrosing mediastinitis, and pericardial defect. The retrospective study was focused on the identification of the number of venous ostia on either side of the left atrium and the drainage patterns of pulmonary veins. The frequency of each pattern was tabulated, and significance of their relationship with atrial arrhythmias was assessed with the X[2] and Fisher's exact tests. Out of 151 patients analyzed, 26 patients [17.2%] had anatomical variation of the pulmonary venous ostia. Atrial arrhythmia was recorded in 16 of 26[61.5%] patients [p = 0.000]. The association of higher anatomical variation of pulmonary venous ostia was recorded as higher [p = 0.034] in the female group [n = 15, 57.7%]. The association between anatomically varied venous ostia and atrial arrhythmia was significant [p = 0.000] with a significantly higher anatomical variation of pulmonary venous ostia in the female Saudi population [p = 0.034]

Quadricuspid aortic valve: MRI evaluation

A 45-year-old man presented with a diastolic murmur and ECG abnormalities. Echocardiography and MRI showed a morphologically abnormal quadricuspid aortic valve with mild aortic regurgitation

64-slice CT diagnosis of pulmonary embolism

A retrospective analysis of CT findings was carried out in 44 patients who had a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in MDCT [multi-detector computed tomography] examination. Low attenuated pulmonary artery filling defect was detected as 1.4 emboli per patient. The other secondary findings were pleural effusion in 17, wedge-shaped atelectasis in 10, oligemia in 4 and ground glass attenuation in 2.The CT findings are highlighted with a brief review of the literature. MDCT has a definite advantage of quick and high resolution scanning of the patients with multiplanner analysis of the data