Left atrial compression by a large hiatal hernia: A rare cause of cardiac dysfunction

Cardiac and oesophageal interplay: A dangerous liaison

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The interaction between the oesophagus and the heart often leads to unpredictable diagnostic challenges in clinical practice, due to their close anatomic relationship. Apard et al described a large, atypical, life-threatening hiatal hernia compressing the left atrium (LA) in a woman with signs of hemodynamic instability and biochemical evidence of tissue hypoperfusion [1]. Distended gastrointestinal structures represent the most common causes of extracardiac LA impressions (followed, in order of frequency, by mediastinal, pulmonary, aortic and intrapericardial masses).

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