title: Cardiac lipoma: a rare cause of right-to-left interatrial shunt with normal pulmonary artery pressure.
abstract: Cardiac lipomas are rare tumors. They usually remain asymptomatic for a long time and cause angina, arrhythmia, dysfunction of the ventricles or valves, and peripheral embolization during the later stages of development. There is little or no information about right-to-left interatrial shunt with normal pulmonary artery pressure, produced as a consequence of the infiltration of the atrial septum, the right atrial wall, and the myocardium because of the presence of fat in patients with platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome. We present a patient with this syndrome who was identified through transesophageal echocardiography. The study showed a massive right-to-left shunt without pulmonary hypertension, produced by an important cardiac infiltration of adipose tissue that created a narrow passage in the right atrium, and a redirection of the flow to a patent foramen ovale, explaining the pathophysiology of the syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Service, Hospital Privado, Cordoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Courtis
authors.forename: Leandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marani
authors.forename: Luis Maria
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Amuchastegui
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodeiro
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016280:Atrial Function, Right / Q000502:physiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary; D000860:Hypoxia; D008067:Lipoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D013577:Syndrome; D014463:Ultrasonography