Treatment of left atrial dissection after mitral repair: internal drainage.

Two patients with intraoperative dissection of the entire left atrium after mitral valve repair are presented. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography detected left atrial dissection with formation of a large cavity compressing the left atrium. The false lumen was opened and widely connected to the right atrium to perform the decompression. This technique permits the runoff into the low pressure system in case of persisting hemorrhage from the unknown entry, and eliminates the risk of systemic embolization from the cavity.