Diagnostic features and pitfalls in the two-dimensional echocardiographic evaluation of a child with cor triatriatum.

Two-dimensional echocardiography has been successfully used to diagnose cor triatriatum in adults and children, and surgical referral of these patients has been undertaken without preceding cardiac catheterization and angiography. A child with cor triatriatum demonstrated by two-dimensional echocardiography was directly referred for surgical resection. Despite thorough preoperative echocardiographic examination and direct intraoperative inspection of the posterior left atrial chamber, partial anomalous right pulmonary venous drainage was not diagnosed until the postoperative period. The failure to detect this uncommon associated anomaly underscores the limitations of relying on two-dimensional echocardiography as the sole preoperative method of evaluation.