title: Giant cardiac myxoma in an asymptomatic 57-year-old woman: a case report.
abstract: Primary cardiac neoplasms are rare and left atrial myxomas represent the most common form of primary cardiac masses. We present the case of a 57-year-old woman with Diabetes Mellitus and arterial hypertension who was incidentally found to have a giant myxoma in the left atrium. She was asymptomatic but given the high risk of embolization and sudden cardiac death, surgical removal of the tumor was performed. A 6.0 x 5.0 x 4.5 cm mass was recovered, confirmed to be a benign cardiac myxoma on microscopic examination. Symptoms associated with cardiac masses will depend upon tumor location and size, usually related to flow obstruction and embolization. An inflammatory response due to secretion of cytokines may also be observed. In this case, the patient had no symptoms despite the size of the tumor that occupied virtually 90% of the left atrial volume.
authors.affiliation: University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine Division. hiltonfranqui@gmail.com
authors.forename: Hilton
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Franqui-Rivera
authors.forename: Priscila
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hernández-Vélez
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ortega-gil
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez-Toro
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: González-Cancel
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gurrea
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008875:Middle Aged; D009232:Myxoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery