title: Floating ball thrombus in the left atrium with mitral stenosis.
abstract: We report a case of a floating ball thrombus in the left atrium with mitral stenosis in a 76-year-old woman. The patient had been followed-up at our hospital due to mitral valve stenosis for several years, and was recognized to have atrial fibrillation and a left atrial mural thrombus by echocardiography. She was admitted to our hospital for right cerebral infarction. Echocardiography showed a floating ball thrombus in the left atrium. After the treatment of cerebral infarction, she was referred to cardiac surgery, and a semi-urgent operation was performed. Removal of the ball thrombus and mitral valve replacement were performed simultaneously. The thrombus was single, round, soft, relatively smooth surfaced, and about 30 x 30 x 30 mm in diameter. The postoperative course was uneventful. Left atrial ball thrombus appears to be uncommon. This is a rare case, in which it was documented that a pre-existing left atrial mural thrombus was thought to drop off spontaneously, to be a cerebral embolic source, and to develop into a ball thrombus in the left atrium.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hiratsuka City Hospital, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Misumi
authors.forename: Mikihiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.forename: Hiroya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kumamaru
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery