title: Varix of the right atrium.
abstract: A 68-year-old female patient was referred for the evaluation of an incidentally detected asymptomatic cardiac mass. Imaging studies showed a 3.0 x 2.4 cm, well circumscribed, round, cystic mass with a calcified nodule that was attached to the lower rim of the fossa ovalis in the right atrium. Under cardiopulmonary bypass, the right atrium was opened to reveal a well circumscribed, dark bluish, pedunculated mass. Histologically, the specimen was a unilocular cyst lined by flattened endothelium, with peripheral fibrin clots and dystrophic calcification of the wall. Immunohistochemical staining of the lining cells was positive for cluster designation 34, which represents hematopoietic progenitor cell antigen. The final pathologic diagnosis was compatible with varix of the heart, which should be considered for a cystic mass with a calcified nodule located in the right atrium, near the lower rim of the fossa ovalis.
authors.affiliation: The Heart Center of Chonnam National University Hospital, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Kye Hun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Myung Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Sang Yup
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Sang Rok
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seo Na
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Il Suk
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Young Joon
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Hyung Wook
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ju Han
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Weon
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Youngkeun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Jeong Gwan
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Byoung Hee
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Jong Chun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sang Hyung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jung Chaee
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D003560:Cysts / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D004727:Endothelium / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery