Coronary artery thromboembolism from left appendage mural thrombus- a rare complication from atrial fibrillation.
A 54-year-old man with recurrent, persistent atrial fibrillation was found dead unexpectedly. He was reportedly non-compliant with his medications and was not on anti-coagulant therapy. He was found dead in his residence after complaining of abdominal discomfort a day prior to death. Postmortem examination revealed a thromboembolus occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery that originated from a mural thrombus in the left appendage, in addition to kidney infarcts. Although atrial fibrillation-related thromboembolism is often speculated to be a cause of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries, supporting pathological evidence is rare. This case documents radiological, macroscopic and microscopic images of this important complication from atrial fibrillation.
['McCarthy|Sinead|S|', 'Garland|Jack|J|', 'Wong|Christopher X|CX|', 'Tse|Rexson|R|0000-0002-1388-9537']
D001281:Atrial Fibrillation D003331:Coronary Vessels D006331:Heart Diseases D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D013923:Thromboembolism D013927:Thrombosis
Coronary artery Thromboembolism Atrial fibrillation Postmortem Autopsy