title: A report of a surgical case of left atrial free floating ball thrombus in the absence of mitral valve disease.
abstract: A 77-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with transient dysarthria. The patient had atrial fibrillation without a history of valvular disease. Echocardiographic examination showed evidence of a floating mass going and returning between the left atrium and the mitral orifice. With this finding, the cause of the brain embolic episode was found to be due to the thrombus in the heart. Under surgery, a ball thrombus was removed, the size and weight of which were 40x30x25 mm and 15 g, respectively. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and she was discharged from the hospital on the 16th postoperative day.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Cardiovascular Center, Aichi Prefectural Owari Hospital, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Genyo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Takeru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimomura
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsuura
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000209:etiology; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*