Thrombus or tumor? a case of fibroelastoma as indicated during the submission process.
We describe the case of a 50-year-old woman who was admitted to a pheriferal department for heart failure. The echocardiography revealed a small mass measuring about 1.3 x 1.0 cm adhering to the non-coronary cusp of the aortic valve, mild dilated cardiomiopathy and severe biventricular dysfunction. This mass had erroneously been considered a thrombotic lesion, so the patient was treated with thrombolysis and heparin e.v. Only after a transoesophageal echocardiography a tumour cardiac mass was suspected. The diagnosis of fibroelastoma was confirmed by MRI and then from the anatomic and histoligical definition after surgery.
Vizzardi
Enrico
E
Section of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Applied Experimental Medicine, Brescia University, Brescia, Italy. enrico.vizzardi@tin.it.
Faggiano
Pompilio
P
Antonioli
Elena
E
Zanini
Gregoriana
G
Chiari
Ermanna
E
Nodari
Savina
S
Cas
Livio Dei
LD