title: Minimally invasive resection of a right atrial mass in a cardiac transplant recipient: a case report.
abstract: Intracardiac thrombus formation usually occurs in the left-sided cavities of the heart, most frequently in the presence of atrial fibrillation or cardiomyopathy. We report the case of an initially unclear mass developing in the right atrium (RA) of a heart transplant recipient, which was subsequently resected via a minimally invasive surgical approach. Access via right anterior minithoracotomy using videoscopic assistance allowed for uncomplicated RA thrombectomy in the presented case, avoiding reentry sternotomy with the potential risk of cardiac injury and without aortic cross-clamping or cardioplegic arrest. The patient is doing fine with excellent graft function at the latest follow-up 4 months after minimally invasive thrombectomy and 30 months after cardiac transplantation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing minimally invasive resection of a right atrial thrombus in a heart transplant recipient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Heart Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. lconradi@uke.de
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Conradi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deuse
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Treede
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seiffert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adam
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koelble
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costard-Jaeckle
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reichenspurner
mesh_terms: D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000601:surgery*