title: Papillary fibroelastoma: increasing recognition of a surgical disease.
abstract: Papillary fibroelastomas are uncommon benign tumors usually involving the heart valves, which historically have been diagnosed at autopsy. With the advent of echocardiography, however, the number of patients diagnosed in life has increased. Papillary fibroelastomas represent a surgically treatable cause of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular ischemia and infarction making their identification clinically important. We report three unusual cases of papillary fibroelastoma; two patients presenting with symptoms of cerebrovascular ischemia and one presenting with myocardial infarction. We also present a comprehensive review of the literature and provide a compilation of all case reports to date.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Massachusetts 02118, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Aldea
authors.forename: O M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Shapira
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kasznica
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davidoff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005350:Fibroma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014261:Tricuspid Valve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014463:Ultrasonography