Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma: Report of a surgical series

Tricuspid Papillary Fibroelastoma: A Rare Tumor in an Uncommon Location

Papillary fibroelastomas (PFEs) are rare benign cardiac tumors typically arising from the valvular endocardium, often affecting the aortic and mitral valves. They can range from asymptomatic to causing severe thromboembolic complications like stroke. This article presents a case of a tricuspid valve PFE in an 81-year-old patient with severe multi-vessel coronary artery disease. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a mass on the tricuspid valve, confirmed by cardiac MRI. The patient underwent surgical excision, and histopathology confirmed the PFE diagnosis. The case highlights the importance of multimodal imaging in diagnosis and individualized treatment strategies for valvular heart tumors.

Rare Cardiac Papillary Fibroelastoma: Right Atrial, Non-Valvular, Large, Symptomatic With Pulmonary Embolism

INTRODUCTION

Primary cardiac tumors are rarely seen in the general population and only a subset are classified as cardiac papillary fibroelastoma.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 59-year-old female that presented for unresponsiveness and cardiac arrest required 4 rounds of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and intubation. Laboratory investigations showed uncompensated respiratory acidosis, hyperkalemia, and elevated troponins. A chest computed tomography angiogram illustrated an acute right pulmonary embolism and a right atrial filling defect. Furthermore, an echocardiogram demonstrated a normal ejection fraction and a large, pedunculated, mobile, and non-valvular echodensity that was attached to the right atrium endocardium. Therefore, the patient was started on a heparin infusion and catheter-directed thrombolysis; however, the mass persisted. A surgical excision was performed, and a 40 mm was removed. The patient was diagnosed with a papillary fibroelastoma based on the clinical symptoms, imaging, and histological findings.

CONCLUSION

This patient's papillary fibroelastoma had multiple rare features including right atrial origin, large size, non-valvular location, and developed symptoms. Although this disease can be initially fatal, the patients typically have a favorable prognosis after a successful excision.

A Case of Cardiac Papillary Fibroelastoma - An Increasingly Described Cardiac Tumor with Fatal Consequences

Papillary fibroelastomas (PFE) are rare primary cardiac tumors characterized by non-malignant, pedunculated, endocardial lesions with a significant risk of embolic potential and death. With improvements in the imaging quality and availability of transthoracic echocardiograms (TTE), the diagnosis of PFE has become more common in the last 2 decades. PFE is changing from a rare "zebra" diagnosis to one that community providers will encounter in their practice and must appropriately treat to prevent morbidity and mortality. Data shows that there are significant survival and morbidity benefit associated with surgical excision over non-operative management, with the benefit of anticoagulation remaining unclear at this time. We report a case describing the diagnostic workup and management of a 58-year-old woman who presented with an unidentified endocardial mass determined to be a PFE. Based on current literature, we favor a strategy of early surgical excision of PFE for an optimal reduction in mortality and thromboembolic sequelae associated with this pathology.

Double valve involvement: papillary fibroelastoma in a patient with severe mitral and aortic valve regurgitation

Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma is a benign neoplasm that arises in the endocardium. It commonly presents as an incidental finding on transthoracic echocardiography or as emboli to the coronary, cerebral or pulmonary vasculature. Clinical manifestations described in the literature have generally been related to a sequelae of the associated embolic phenomenon of these lesions. Valve regurgitation is less common with papillary fibroelastoma and when found, it is not known to cause severe regurgitation requiring valve replacement. We report a case of papillary fibroelastoma in a patient with severe mitral and aortic valve regurgitation in association with mobile masses requiring double valve replacement. This patient managed initially as infective endocarditis with severe double valve regurgitation, was found to have valvular masses concernng for papillary fibroelastoma and subsequently confirmed on pathology.