Fulminant brain necrosis from atrial myxoma showers.
Population
1 patient with atrial myxoma and a history of an incompletely evaluated ischemic stroke 1 year prior.
Design
Case_report
Follow-up
1 year (from initial stroke to fatal presentation)
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
Raises awareness of rare fatal atrial myxoma embolization syndrome; case report leaves open optimal early detection strategies.
Key Points
- To document a rare, fatal presentation of atrial myxoma characterized by massive multiorgan embolization and near-total brain necrosis.
- Clinical evaluation and cranial computed tomography of a 63-year-old woman presenting with rapid neurological decline into coma within 24 hours.
- Postmortem pathological examination assessing systemic and cerebral arterial vascular beds.
- Cranial computed tomography demonstrated widespread bilateral hypodensities throughout both the cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres.
- Autopsy confirmed near-complete brain necrosis across anterior and posterior circulations, acute myocardial infarction from coronary emboli, and widespread tumor embolization to peripheral arteries, the spleen, and the kidneys.
Structured PICO
P
Population
1 patient (63-year-old woman) with atrial myxoma and a history of an incompletely evaluated ischemic stroke 1 year prior.
O
Outcome
Fatal multiple organ embolization including brain necrosis and acute myocardial infarctionhard clinical
Atrial myxoma can rarely present as a fatal multiple organ embolization syndrome, causing fulminant brain necrosis and acute myocardial infarction.
Cite This Study
Browne et al. (1993) studied this question.