Thoracic Key

There has been dramatic progress in the field of vascular anomalies in recent years, including improved understanding of the classification of these lesions, their natural history, and optimal management strategies….

Introduction Rheumatic fever (RF) is an acute, diffuse, and nonsuppurative inflammatory disease that occurs as a delayed complication after an untreated or partially treated pharyngotonsillitis, the infection itself sometimes being…

Introduction The congenital malformation characterized by origin of the arterial trunks from morphologically inappropriate ventricles has probably been the source of as much confusion and controversy as any other single…

This chapter discusses the range of congenital coronary anomalies that may be found in an otherwise structurally normal heart, first reviewing the anatomy and development of the coronary arteries before…

Kawasaki disease was first described in 1967 by Tomisako Kawasaki, a Japanese pediatrician. He characterized the illness, then termed mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome , as including high fever, nonexudative conjunctivitis,…

The pericardium derives its name from the Greek term peri, meaning “around,” and kardia, meaning “heart.” It is composed of two layers. The inner layer (visceral pericardium) consists of a…

Introduction Holes between the ventricles can occur as isolated anomalies but are also seen in association with many other defects. For example, they are found as integral parts of entities…

Introduction Common arterial trunk is an uncommon congenital cardiac lesion. The essential anatomic characteristic is the presence of a common ventriculoarterial junction that gives rise to an arterial trunk. This,…

Introduction The essence of congenitally corrected transposition is the presence of discordant connections at both atrioventricular (AV) and ventriculoarterial (VA) junctions. This segmental combination (like transposition itself, Chapter 37 ),…

Historical Considerations When Siegal reexamined the original second century Greek text of Galen, he pointed out that Galen was familiar with many aspects of the fetal circulation even though he…