ABSTRACT

Left atrial compression by adjacent structures or digestive organs can be a clinically significant cause of hemodynamic compromise. Although echocardiography enables the clinicians to make a differential diagnosis successfully in most cases, computerized tomography or magnetic resonance imaging can provide valuable and complementary information to make the diagnosis clear. We present a case of non-aneurysmatic segment of descending aorta compressing the left atrium that could cause atrial fibrillation, hemodynamic compromise and pulmonary congestion.