title: Incidental papillary fibroelastoma of the tricuspid valve.
abstract: Primary cardiac tumors are very rare, papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) being the second most common benign tumor of the heart in previous series. However, as a consequence of increased imaging examinations, incidental PFE may represent the most common cardiac tumor. Their clinical presentation varies from incidental asymptomatic masses to severe life-threatening cardiovascular complications necessitating emergency surgery. Here we report the diagnostic evaluation and successful surgical resection of such a cardiac tumor in a 67-year-old woman. Histology confirmed diagnosis of a papillary fibroelastoma. This report demonstrates it's necessary to include cardiac tumors in the differential diagnosis of subtle and non-specific cardiothoracic symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Center of Cardiac Surgery, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Krankenhausstraße 12, 91054 Erlangen, Germany. thomas.strecker@uk-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strecker
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scheuermann
authors.forename: Ehab
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nooh
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weyand
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agaimy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005350:Fibroma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D014261:Tricuspid Valve / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery