Giant biatrial myxoma in an atrial septal defect

Abstract

Myxomas account for a majority of the reported primary cardiac tumors that are relatively rare, and biatrial myxomas in an atrial septal defect are extremely rare. Here, we present the case of a healthy 79-year-old woman who was referred to our hospital after a giant mass in the left atrium was incidentally detected by transthoracic echocardiography. Although she was asymptomatic, we surgically resected the mass soon after admission, considering the risk of embolism. During the surgery, we observed the giant bilateral tumor in an atrial septal defect, which was, on pathological evaluation, found to be a myxoma. <Learning objective: Differential diagnosis of intra-cardiac tumors is sometimes difficult because they are relatively rare. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is the most useful imaging modality for the differential diagnosis of intra-cardiac tumors. We describe a case wherein a large myxoma was detected in an atrial septal defect. It is useful to know that myxoma in an atrial septal defect can grow to a large size as it tends to grow in the direction of blood flow.>.

Keywords: Atrial septal defect; Cardiac tumor; Myxoma.