CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE IN ADULTS: COR TRIATRIATUM

Highlights Cor triatriatum is a congenital heart disease that occurs when the atrium is divided into two chambers by a fibro-muscular membrane, the left-sided atrial membrane is more common; it can be associated with a higher incidence of atrial fibrillation. The anomaly incidence rate is less than 0.1% of all congenital malformations and it is mainly diagnosed in infancy. We present a clinical case that describe cor triatriatum in a 38-year-old man. Abstract A triatrial heart is one of the rarest congenital heart defects, diagnosed and corrected in infancy. However, with a significant area of fenestrations, patients may remain asymptomatic throughout their life. This article describes the case of a 38-year-old man who was diagnosed at the age of 17. He chose not to undergo surgical correction, and clinical symptoms in the form of paroxysms of atrial fibrillation only appeared at age 30. The patient is observed by cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons, tolerates physical exertion well outside of the atrial fibrillation paroxysms, shows no signs of congestion in the pulmonary circulation according to catheterization data, continues to take anticoagulant and antiarrhythmic therapy, and still refrains from surgical treatment. The presented clinical case demonstrates that a rare congenital heart defect can be a cause of atrial fibrillation in a young adult who has been asymptomatic for a long time.