Inversion of the left atrial appendage following cardiac surgery.

Inversion of the left atrial appendage is a rare complication after open-heart surgery. To our knowledge only 16 cases, besides that reported herein, have been described so far. Echocardiographically, the inverted left atrial appendage appears as a mass mimicking a thrombus, a vegetation or a tumor of the left atrium. Lack of awareness of this entity can result in a misdiagnosis and unnecessary procedures. The case here reported deals with an inverted left atrial appendage occurring in an infant after repair of an atrial septal defect.