Abstract
An in-depth knowledge of interatrial septum (IAS) anatomy is crucial for all congenital heart disease and interventional cardiology specialists. In this chapter we describe atrial septation and the complex anatomical relationship between septum primum (SP) and septum secundum (SS), highlighting several misnomers in the literature derived from misconceptions about IAS anatomy such as lipomatous hypertrophy of the IAS, septal aneurysms and atrial “septal” and “extra septal” communications. Anatomical variants such as the atrial pouch and the atrial ridges are also discussed. In the last paragraph, we illustrate the peculiar anatomy of the atrial-ventricular junction. Two and three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (2D/3D TEE), and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) today allow visualization of all anatomical details of the IAS either in cross section or in “en face” view. 3D TEE, in particular, has the unique ability of showing the surfaces of the IAS from both the left and right-atrial perspectives.
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Faletra, F.F., Leo, L.A., Schlossbauer, S.A., Paiocchi, V.L., Gherbesi, E., Valgimigli, M. (2022). Normal 3DE Anatomy of Atrial Septum: Image Display and Anatomical Specimen Correlations. In: Maalouf, J.F., Faletra, F.F., Asirvatham, S.J., Chandrasekaran, K. (eds) Practical 3D Echocardiography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72941-7_19
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