title: Surgical dilemmas: diagnosis and treatment of atrial plasmacytoma.
abstract: Treating heart masses demands a well-planned diagnostic strategy. As with any disease in medicine, the confirmation of a diagnosis leads to a tailored, more efficacious treatment. We present the case of a 72-year-old man presenting with a right atrial mass on echocardiography and diagnosis of plasmacytoma after transvenous endomyocardial biopsy.
authors.affiliation: Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas. Electronic address: lnblau@houstonmethodist.org.
authors.forename: Lance N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Blau
authors.affiliation: Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Reardon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D003657:Decision Making; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D006325:Heart Atria; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; D008297:Male; D010954:Plasmacytoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional