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Published in: Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology 4/2018

01-12-2018 | Images in Forensics

Double-chambered left ventricle – a “heart within a heart”

Authors: John D. Gilbert, Roger W. Byard

Published in: Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology | Issue 4/2018

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Abstract

A 20-year-old previously well man drowned after performing a back-flip off a bridge into a river. At autopsy no significant injuries or organic illness were identified. An unusual incidental finding was a double chambered left ventricle, or so-called “heart within a heart”, with the left ventricle subdivided into two separate chambers by a muscular septum. Awareness of this entity in forensic casework is important as this anomaly, despite its dramatic appearance, is not associated with anomalous conduction tracts or arrhythmogenic conditions, and so is usually a completely incidental finding at autopsy.
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Metadata
Title
Double-chambered left ventricle – a “heart within a heart”
Authors
John D. Gilbert
Roger W. Byard
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology / Issue 4/2018
Print ISSN: 1547-769X
Electronic ISSN: 1556-2891
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-018-9956-z

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