title: Thrombus or tumor? a case of fibroelastoma as indicated during the submission process.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Section of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Applied Experimental Medicine, Brescia University, Brescia, Italy. enrico.vizzardi@tin.it.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vizzardi
authors.forename: Pompilio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Faggiano
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Antonioli
authors.forename: Gregoriana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zanini
authors.forename: Ermanna
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chiari
authors.forename: Savina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nodari
authors.forename: Livio Dei
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Cas