Key result
Pathology reveals a massive LA mass in a transplant recipient is an organizing thrombus, mimicking myxoma.
Why the study?
Intracardiac masses are an extremely rare and poorly described complication following a bicaval heart transplantation.
Case Report (n=1)
This case highlights the diagnostic challenge of differentiating a massive left atrial thrombus from a myxoma using multimodality imaging in heart transplant recipients.
Urges histologic confirmation of left atrial masses in transplant recipients despite multimodality imaging; leaves open diagnostic accuracy in this population.
Intracardiac masses are an extremely rare and poorly described complication following a bicaval heart transplantation. We describe the case of an asymptomatic 62‐year‐old male with a large left atrial mass found incidentally on transthoracic echocardiography 6 years post‐transplant. A battery of additional imaging tests was ordered including transesophageal echocardiography, 18 F‐fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography, and T1 and T2 magnetic resonance imaging. Although imaging biomarkers were generally nonspecific, the mass was most consistent with a cardiac myxoma. However, intraoperative findings confirmed by pathology revealed a massive organizing thrombus. The patient had an uneventful recovery after surgical removal of the mass. Our case highlights a very rare phenomenon in heart transplant recipients which remains a unique diagnostic challenge even with current advances in imaging.
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Shou et al. (2022) conducted a case report in Intracardiac mass post-bicaval heart transplantation (n=1). Surgical removal of the mass was evaluated on Diagnosis and recovery. Surgical removal and pathology of a massive left atrial mass in a heart transplant recipient revealed an organizing thrombus, despite multimodality imaging suggesting a cardiac myxoma.
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