Multiple cardiac lipomas and sudden death: a case report and literature review

Abstract

We report a unique case of multiple subepicardial lipomas found in a 15-year-old girl who died suddenly. This case is, to the best of our knowledge, unique in several aspects. First, the large lipomas arose extensively from the surface of the heart, infiltrating the walls of all four chambers, and the left ventricle was most severely involved. Second, the lipomas were associated with lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial groove. Third, multiple lipomas involved the organs of two systems, namely, the heart and the stomach. We speculate that it was fatty infiltration of the left ventricle that led to ventricular fibrillation and sudden death.