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Case Reports
. 2013;40(4):459-61.

Rapid growth of left atrial myxoma after radiofrequency ablation

José Rubio Alvarez  1 , Anxo Martinez de Alegria, Juan Sierra Quiroga, Belen Adrio Nazar, Carola Rubio Taboada, José Manuel Martinez Comendador
Affiliations
Case Reports

Rapid growth of left atrial myxoma after radiofrequency ablation

José Rubio Alvarez et al. Tex Heart Inst J. 2013.

Abstract

Atrial myxoma is the most common benign tumor of the heart, but its appearance after radiofrequency ablation is very rare. We report a case in which an asymptomatic, rapidly growing cardiac myxoma arose in the left atrium after radiofrequency ablation. Two months after the procedure, cardiovascular magnetic resonance, performed to evaluate the right ventricular anatomy, revealed a 10 × 10-mm mass (assumed to be a thrombus) attached to the patient's left atrial septum. Three months later, transthoracic echocardiography revealed a larger mass, and the patient was diagnosed with myxoma. Two days later, a 20 × 20-mm myxoma weighing 37 g was excised. To our knowledge, the appearance of an atrial myxoma after radiofrequency ablation has been reported only once before. Whether tumor development is related to such ablation or is merely a coincidence is uncertain, but myxomas have developed after other instances of cardiac trauma.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation/prevention & control; catheter ablation/adverse effects; diagnosis, differential; echocardiography, transesophageal; echocardiography, transthoracic; heart neoplasms/ultrasonography; myxoma/diagnosis/surgery; pulmonary veins.

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Figures

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Fig. 1 On 4 November 2009, cardiovascular magnetic resonance showed a small (10 × 10-mm) mass (arrow) attached to the left atrial septum.
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Fig. 2 On 6 November 2009, transesophageal echocardiography showed a small round mass in the left atrium.
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Fig. 3 A) On 27 January 2010, a 20 × 20-mm myxoma weighing 37 g was excised; here it is placed next to a towel clamp for scale. B) Photomicrograph shows abundant myxoid stroma, proliferation of blood vessels, and areas of old hemorrhaging (H & E, orig. ×200).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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