title: Transesophageal echocardiographic diagnosis of multicentric left ventricular myxomas mimicking a left atrial tumor.
abstract: We report a case of multicentric left ventricular myxomas with prolapse of one myxoma into the left atrium during ventricular systole that mimicked a left atrial tumor. The transthoracic echocardiogram showed large masses in the region of the mitral valve leaflets consistent with vegetations or tumors. A computed tomographic scan of the chest demonstrated two distinct left atrial masses, one of which appeared to prolapse from the left atrium into the left ventricle. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography showed a large pedunculated mass moving between the two left-sided cardiac chambers with intermittent trapping of the mass in the left atrium. The mass was attached to the left ventricular posteromedial papillary muscle by a long stalk. Another adjacent large ventricular mass was also noted in the left ventricle. These findings were confirmed at operation, which also demonstrated a third small tumor arising from the atrial aspect of the posterior mitral leaflet.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Disease, University of Alabama, Birmingham 35294.
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Samdarshi
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Mahan
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Nanda
authors.forename: F W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Guthrie
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kirklin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D004947:Esophagus; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009232:Myxoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*