title: Cardiac tumor masquerading as obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
abstract: We report a case of a large right atrial hemangioma masquerading as a clinical presentation of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in a 57-year-old man, who was wrongfully treated with nocturnal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) prior to surgical consultation. The exact diagnosis was made during the investigation for his cardiac arrhythmia. A large right atrial tumor obstructing the tricuspid valve intermittently was noted on cardiac echocardiography. His symptoms became worse when the patient was lying flat. Tumor excision under cardiopulmonary bypass was carried out, which confirmed the preoperative finding of cardiac hemangioma. The patient underwent uneventful recovery postoperatively and the symptoms of OSAS settled after surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of right atrial tumor masquerading as a clinical presentation of OSAS.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
authors.forename: Kin-Hoi
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Thung
authors.forename: Innes Y P
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: Malcolm J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Underwood
mesh_terms: D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004452:Echocardiography; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D013610:Tachycardia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome