Congenital absence of the pericardium and its relationship to the ligamentum arteriosum.

An anatomic and embryologic study of congenital absence of the pericardium and the relationship of the ligamentum arteriosum to this defect was carried out by the authors. A case report is presented to clinically correlate the anatomic and radiologic findings in this anomaly. The authors propose that visualization of the ligamentum arteriosum by computed tomography is a characteristic sign for congenital absence of the left pericardium.